What Makes A Family: A House by Kevin Henkes

It all begins with...

A HOUSE.

This one seems simple--but geometically it is more complex than it seems. It's square, with an rectangle for a door and chimney, a circular window and doorknob, and a trapezoidical roof with with overlapping oval tiles. Its door and chimney are a dusty blue, its round window is a pale blue, and the grass is green. There are parallel lines vertically in its shape AND horizontally in its siding and roof.

It's more complex than we might think.

And Kevin Henkes' latest book for the youngest, is not exactly simplistic. It begins as a "concept" book, helping preschoolers practice their shapes and colors, and the celebrated author-illustrator moves seamlessly on to counting. But when an iconic sun and birds appear, concepts of time appear in "morning" and while two birds rest of the roof, young readers are asked to count the number of birds in flight. A similar page for the house at night identifies and counts the moon and stars.

HOW MANY STARS ARE THERE?

The House in rain is pictured with countable clouds and puddles, stressing comparison words like "biggest" and "smallest." The House in snow is next with new snowflakes appearing among raindrops until the house is heavy with snowfall.

The scene is set when Director Henkes calls ACTION!, and a family of five old fashioned Playskool-like people appears with dog and cat following behind.

COMING... HOME.

It takes something really special to make the HOUSE a HOME in Caldecott and Newbery Award-winning author-illustrator, Kevin Henkes' latest, A House (Greenwillow Books, 2021, as Henkes melds the concrete shapes and numbers of the preschool curriculum with the feelings that bring a house alive to be a family home, with flowers up front, a dog in the yard, familiar faces at the window. and yes, a cat on the roof.

Simple but endearing in the way of beloved author-illustrator, Tomie de Paola, this book should become a classic for preschoolers, and a lovely beginning reader for the lower grades.

Booklist remarks that this one does double duty, as it... "invites readers to actively participate in the story, presenting questions about colors and shapes, which quickly become more complex considerations about the locations of objects, visual action elements, time of day, and size comparisons. . . . What started as a fun, interactive visual exercise ends up with a gentle message about family and what truly makes a house a home.”

Things That Go Bump! In The Night: My House is Alive! by Scot Ritchie

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties,
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!

People have long feared the things of the night, and even the bravest among us can remember how scary unknown sounds can be in the dark. While children today need not fear marauding Norsemen or hungry bears or shrouded spirits, the imagination can run wild when the sun goes down.

HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED

THERE ARE SOME NOISES

YOU ONLY HEAR AT NIGHT?

That buzzing sound? Could it be a giant hornet stalking the halls?

Or is it the vibrating panels in the ballast box of the fluorescent light in the kitchen?

Is that gurgling sound some sort of sea monsters oozing up through the bathtub drain?

Or is it a faulty toilet tank flapper drip-gurgling in the bathroom?

And what's that scratching sound in the living room? The one that sounds like something with giant claws scrabbling to get in?

Could it be the amplified sound of a bird family who's decided the chimney is a really safe place to roost and raise babies?

Scot Ritchie's new My House Is Alive!: The Weird and Wonderful Sounds Your House Makes (Owlkids Books, 2015) gives youngsters a chance to sleuth out those noises that sound so sinister in the darkest hours before the dawn. Stairs creak. Is it a monster sneaking upstairs--or the wood drying and shrinking bit by bit in the staircase. Houses settle slowly on their foundations, with loud crunches and thumps as the night air cools.  And that rumble is only the garage door opening as Dad drives in. Ritchie's comic double-page spreads portray a boy and his pooch with the imagined ghoulies and beasties, followed by the real source of the sounds, all in a bedtime book that may allay some childhood fears with the knowledge that these sudden sounds are actually their houses on the job looking after them, the fridge defrosting itself and the furnace rumbling into action to keep us cozy.

And there may be one more nighttime sound that parents long to hear....

HOUSES MAKE ALL SORTS OF SOUNDS AT NIGHT.

HERE'S ONE MORE YOU MIGHT KNOW...

YAWWWWWN!