Review by Booklist Review
A sturdy little house has a happy heart, due to the loving father, mother, and three children living within his walls. But one day, the family packs up and moves away, leaving the house feeling empty and bereft. A couple moves in and makes House their home "for months--years, even." But eventually, they, too, pack up and leave. Quiet and sad, House hopes "with all his shingles" for new occupants. One after another, all kinds of families make House their home, and he adjusts to the cycle of residents coming and going. One day, when a large, biracial family moves in and fills the house with love, House senses something strangely familiar about his new residents. Created with pencil, ink, and gouache, the beautifully composed illustrations reflect the quiet, thoughtful tone of the text and provide visual clues linking House's earlier residents to his most recent ones through family ties. Duffield's narrative offers a different perspective on the experience of moving, a difficult transition for many children, in this reflective and ultimately heartwarming picture book.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A small house alternates heartbreak and happiness as multiple generations of residents fill his rooms with love in this cozy picture book. "House and his people/ had made a mountain of memories--// Song by song./ Giggle by giggle./ Hug by hug," Duffield writes. When the homeowners depart, House's heart feels "as empty as his rooms," until new owners arrive. As the cycle repeats, House learns to embrace the adage "when one door closes, another door opens." Matching the text's polish, Corace's diminutive dollhouse-style cutaways, rendered in gouache, ink, and pencil, add a narrative layer via art that depicts the period-specific lifestyles of varying occupants, presented with varied skin tones. Record albums occupy the first family, a box TV entertains the next, and later residents install a peace-sign-adorned flag, until a final family, intergenerational and interracial, joyously brings the story full circle, "song by song./ Giggle by giggle./ Hug by hug." Ages 3--7. (Aug.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A house shares life and love with every family that lives within. When House's family moves away, his once-full heart breaks. He'd been there with them while they made lots of happy memories, and when they leave, it becomes quiet, and House feels alone. Eventually another family moves in, and he becomes exactly what they need him to be, until they leave. More families come and go; some stay for a while, and every family is a little different, but all of them enter with exactly what House is missing when he's alone: love. It's clear that it's the people who make House a home, and when his latest family comes, they bring with them the opportunity for House to help them make new happy memories. Though it's sad when a family leaves, House realizes something important: "When one door closes, another opens." The way House becomes a home for the various families is conveyed through the physical changes outside and inside as well as through the various functions each family has for different rooms. House's inhabitants vary in age and race. Bright and warmly textured, the illustrations are simple but brim with cozy details. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A new way to appreciate "home sweet home." (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
