Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The House Book by Keith DuQuette

 The House Book by Keith DuQuette

Rating: 3.5 stars

This is one of the many building books we've got lying around our house these days.  The illustrations make it worth checking out--I'm looking at the inside flap before the words even begin, and I'm remembering talking with Ben about all the different types of houses that exist.  There are detailed illustrations of an adobe house, an a-frame ski lodge, city row houses, a simple cabin, an old fashioned colonial, a beach house near the sea...

The images in this book (and others) have made Ben talk about what kind of house he would like to live in, and he constantly asks me what kind of house I'd like to live in.  A small part of me wants to remind him of how lucky we are to live in such a nice house with such beautiful woods surrounding us each and every time he brings up the "What kind of house do you want?" conversation.  But I know he's not being ungrateful; he's using the big imagination in his little head to think up alternative homes.  We're all struggling in some way between the balance of appreciating what we have and wanting something different, I think, and Ben is playing with that big idea in a little, safe way.
Ben's block "neighborhood"...

(Neighborhoods are especially attractive to Ben.  We don't have much of one as we live at the end of a pipe stem, and I think he's a little envious of those he sees--the houses are close enough together were kids can play more easily, and yards touch the yard next door...  Something about that has caught his eye in a big way.)

The words in this book are fine--it's a nice rhyme that describe the parts of a house, from door to windows, roofs to yards.  "Each room is used in its own way, / some for work and some for play. / Another fact that's worth revealing; / one room's floor another's ceiling."

But the detailed illustrations are why you want this book in your library bag, especially if you've got a kid who, like Ben, can't stop constructing houses out of anything he touches!



2 comments:

  1. You share great information about house raising and thanks for highlighting basic factors for house.
    House Raising
    Long Island House Raising

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    Replies
    1. thanks! I appreciate the links. I'll be sure to show Ben. :)

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