Little houses

Kevin Henkes

Book - 2022

A young girl visiting her grandparents at the beach stays in a little house and walks along the shore gathering seashells, wondering about the creatures who used to live in each shell, about the hidden treasures of the sea--and about the world.

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Bookmobile Children's Show me where

jE/Henkes
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Children's Room Show me where

jE/Henkes
2 / 2 copies available
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Subjects
Genres
Nature fiction
Sea fiction
Picture books
Published
New York, NY : Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers [2022]
Language
English
Main Author
Kevin Henkes (author)
Other Authors
Laura Dronzek (illustrator)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 29 cm
Audience
Ages Ages 4-8
Grades K-1
ISBN
9780062965721
9780062965738
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

As in Henkes and Dronzek's earlier collaborations---Birds (2009), When Spring Comes (2016), Summer Song (2020), In the Middle of Fall (2017), Winter Is Here (2018)--curiosity and wonder about nature are explored, this time through a family trip. A young girl visits her grandparents, staying in a little house by the shore. As they walk the beach, the child studies the shells and considers the creatures that once lived in them. Vibrant acrylic illustrations depict these little houses in multiple colors, sizes, and shapes. Casting her view more widely, the girl considers the ocean itself, its range of colors and sounds, and the many things held within its waters, then ponders the sky and birds. Her grandparents encourage her to explore her surroundings, inspiring her to want to learn more. Where have the shells traveled? How old are the rocks that wash ashore? How deep is the ocean? What do the birds think? Returning to her own house, the girl takes some of the treasures along, understanding that she, too, is part of the wonderful wider world.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Married team Henkes and Dronzek (Summer Song) create a story about a child with light brown skin and black pigtails, whose visit to a grandparents' small beach house allows time for wondering and questioning. Together, the child and grandmother walk along the beach every morning, looking for shells. "Grandma reminds me that shells are little houses. And that gets me thinking." Dronzek paints the shells as the child sees them, up close, dwelling on their colors and forms. "But who lived here? Where is it now? Is its ghost still inside the curved walls?" This thread of inquiry turns from small environments to a large one--what's inside the depths of the ocean. "Fish as big as cars, creatures whose names I don't know, lost toys, lost coins." The grandparents' quiet, affirming presences allow their grandchild space to contemplate. "The world is so big," says Grandpa, smiling, "and there is so much to know. And someday you'll know it all." For now, though, the child treasures a collection of shells, little houses. Henkes writes with quiet grace that avoids preciousness, while Dronzek's acrylic seashore-centered spreads capture one person encountering the natural world with curiosity and reverence. Ages 4--8. (May)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review

A pigtailed child visits her grandparents at the shore, where the waves call them to explore the sands just outside the steps of their small seaside house. Amid the colorful detritus left behind by the waves, the girl and her grandmother search for shells of every kind. "Grandma reminds me that the shells are little houses. And that gets me thinking," the child says, as she begins to wonder about the inhabitants of these tiny homes. Her mind wanders further out into the deep, where one could find "fish as big as cars...lost toys, lost coins, lots of lost things that were cried over." The girl's grandfather, too, looks in awe at the water and his grandchild, noting that she just may "know it all" someday. A collection of shells, though, is enough to satisfy the child until that someday arrives. Dronzek's recognizably bold-hued, naturalistic acrylic illustrations maintain the windswept qualities of a visit to the beach, infusing the quiet and meditative narrative with movement. Thoughtful page design alternates between spot art, images within a borderless ellipse-shaped frame, and full-bleed double-page spreads, uniting the child reader and the child narrator on their journeys to consider both the small and the vast. Henkes and Dronzek's latest pitch-perfect collaboration (Summer Song, rev. 3/21) offers an intimate multigenerational narrative that captures children's hopeful curiosity about our shared home. Grace McKinney May/June 2022 p.123(c) Copyright 2022. 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.