Review by Booklist Review
Long ago, a family built a house in the countryside. Overlooking a meadow, it had a garden with roses and a tree with a swing for children. The house was happy. For the next 100 years or so, whenever one family moved out, another moved in, "until it didn't." Now the house stands empty as the seasons change. People come to see the place but find it too small or too quiet. The house reminisces about the past and the children who have lived there, playing games, celebrating birthdays, and sometimes just sitting very still, thinking. After a new family moves in and begins making new memories, the house becomes a home once again. Ray's concise, well-worded text avoids sentimentality, even as it conjures up the house's memories and sense of longing. Goodale contributes lively, impressionistic illustrations created with ink, watercolor, monoprint technique, and digital collage, evocatively depicting the house, some of its residents, the verdant meadow, and the night sky. This appealing picture book offers an imaginative perspective on moving.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Joining a growing shelf of picture books about dwellings that witness generational change, this quiet story by Ray (The Friendship Book) stars an old white saltbox house that has long been occupied by families. In monoprinting, ink, watercolor, and collage, Goodale (Under the Lilacs) creates its builders, a white turn-of-the-century family with children and a black-and-white sheepdog, and offers snapshots of later occupants from whom "the house learned about babies being born and babies growing up... about bedtime stories and birthday parties." Now, though, the house stands empty. Suspense builds as families come to look, then leave. Lyrical lines that convey a sense of calm linger over the house's loneliness; paint peels, and ghostly silhouettes of imagined children run over the lawn. Feathery spreads full of changing grass and leaves reflect the home's consciousness of seasonal change: "The house welcomed back the green time and every green smell, too." Most of the book's attention is on time slowly elapsing, a facet that builds carefully to fulfillment, involving a family of color, that radiates forward and backward in time. Ages 4--8. Author's agent: Rick Margolis, Rising Bear Literary. Illustrator's agent: Lori Kilkelly, Rodeen Literary. (Apr.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2--Just like people have memories of the places where they spent their childhoods, this old house is full of memories of families who lived there. It stands firm as the world changes around it. Families come and go until one day, the house stands empty and quiet. As readers turn the pages, the joyful summer scenes change, and with that comes remembrances of bygone days tinged with nostalgia for past families--especially the children--and reflection. The text is simple but makes readers pause, reflect, and think of their own memories and the places that provided them warmth and shelter. Vibrant but gentle illustrations done in monoprinting, watercolor, and digital collage are mesmerizing as well as tactile. There is the wind blowing, the warmth of sunshine, the laughter of children, and the scent of cake fresh out of the oven. Eventually, a family whose members have skin tones in various shades of brown. Even when the house is empty, both illustrations and text are reassuring. VERDICT A visual history of a home, full of longing, and a powerful story of hope and reassurance.--Noureen Qadir-Jafar, Roosevelt Lib., NY
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In a story recalling Virginia Lee Burton's classic The Little House, Ray relates the experiences of a house in the country from its own perspective. "The house had a tree with a swing, a garden with roses, and a family. It was happy." As the years go by, it sees families come and go, until one day no new family arrives. Seasons pass with the house remaining empty, causing it to think about everything it loves: the memories made there, children at play, good smells from the kitchen. When the house makes a wish, and new people it likes appear, it can't help thinking maybe "they are its family." They, too, leave -- only to return with a moving truck! Ray's quiet, eloquent text serves as a poignant meditation on appreciation: of the things we take for granted, the things we value most, and the things we cannot live without. As the house enjoys life, loss, and renewal, readers experience it, too, through Goodale's highly expressive, textured, and fluid illustrations, a beautiful mix of monoprinting, ink, watercolor, and digital collage. The house's longing and sadness are reflected in dark colors, shadows, silhouettes, and the moon, while cheerier hues, nature scenes, and bright sunshine reflect its joy and contentment. Many spreads feature windows, serving as the house's eyes out onto the world while also shining light onto the life (or lack thereof) within. Early illustrations of photographs reflect the happy memories made at the house; later, the pictures are discovered by the new family's little girl, as her own family makes (photographed) memories, bringing the story full circle. Cynthia K. Ritter July/August 2021 p.94(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An old house takes center stage, waiting for just the right family to move in. The titular house stands empty in the country, full of memories, longing, and even the sounds and smells of the many happy residents that dwelled in it over the years. With people no longer living there, the house feels different, forlorn as seasons change and time passes. The house hopes a new family, especially one with children, will come and remain permanently, but none does, discouraged either by the rural quietude or what they consider to be the house's small size. Finally, a new family with kids arrives, and the house is hopeful that it's found its match--until they, too, leave. Or have they? Young readers/listeners will appreciate this sweet, compassionate story and be charmed by the notion of a house serving as a protagonist; this tale should spark discussions and generate memories about kids' own homes. Children will empathize with the house's feelings of sadness and patience and be gladdened by the happy, hopeful ending, replete with possibilities. The soft, delicate, airy illustrations, rendered partially in muted watercolors and ink, are atmospheric and suffused with nostalgia and coziness. Some illustrations, suggesting sepia-toned photos, show past events that took place within the house's walls. Past residents present White; the new young family that moves in is a family of color. A reassuring conversation starter about the special connections we feel to our homes. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
