The Little House

I cannot stop loving this book, which graphically depicts a city growing up around a small farm country cottage. While the storyline concerns the fate of the tiny house, the thrill is watching the steady mushrooming growth of vehicles, electric lines, street cars, street lamps, apartment buildings, elevated and subway trains, and finally skyscrapers as they surround the home before it is able to make its satisfying escape back to the country. The art is warm and cozy, befitting a book that has a gutsy cottage as the main character.

A Caldecott winner, The Little House was adapted into one of Walt Disney’s most beloved and enduring animated shorts. Both are deeply affecting; it makes one think that a house is not just a thing but its own living being, reborn with each new generation of families that dwell within. Although this is her most profound work Burton very much specialized in stories about inanimate objects, such as Maybelle the Cable Car, Choo Choo, Katy and the Big Snow, and her most well-known, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. This book (and the short) directly inspired my… show more.

The Little House won the Caldecott Medal for a reason and is one of my all-time favourite books. Although it was published in 1942, the book remains relevant today, 80 yrs later. The story centers on a little house built at the top of a small hill, far out in the country. As the seasons pass, it sees the city lights, roads, and buildings grow ever closer. Something magical happens when the great, great-granddaughter rediscovers this little house nestled in between skyscrapers and subway stations. It is a powerful, timeless little book that will spark conversations about the passage of… show more.