Let's Go Home: The Wonderful Things About a House

by Cynthia Rylant, Wendy Anderson Halperin (Illustrator)

Overview

The Wonderful Things About A House

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416908395
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	10/01/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	451,650
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 12.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Cynthia Rylant is the author of more than 100 books for young people, including the beloved Henry and Mudge, Annie and Snowball, Brownie & Pearl, Motor Mouse, and Mr. Putter & Tabby series. Her novel Missing May received the Newbery Medal. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Wendy Anderson Halperin is an acclaimed artist who has illustrated dozens of books for children, including Let’s Go Home by Cynthia Rylant, Soft House by Jane Yolen, and Turn, Turn, Turn! by Peter Seeger. She lives in South Haven, Michigan.

Editorial Reviews

In an oversize yet cozy-looking picture book, Rylant and Halperin explore the components of a home that could easily serve as a setting for this pair's Cobble Street Cousins series. Rylant quickly gets to the heart of her subject: "No matter the kind of house, it is the living inside that makes it wonderful." From there, she conducts readers onto the front porch, over the threshold and into various rooms. In the living room, "there is usually a big sofa," and maybe a fireplace in front of which "husbands and wives who have been married a long time will spend the evening reading or sewing or simply being quiet together." The kitchen is "the room that reminds people to look after each other." And bedrooms "shelter us from the world like no other rooms can." While the author speaks thoughtfully and in general terms about the feelings that rooms conjure for many people, the illustrator focuses on one particular multigenerational family and the colorful lives they lead in their comfortably cluttered house. Halperin's watercolorssometimes featuring multiple snapshot-like scenes of the same room on one pagebrim with idiosyncratic details suggestive of the inhabitants' personalities. Even when the text approaches preciousness ("The smell of cookies makes every person as nice as he can be"), the note of welcome sounds clearly. Readers will want to linger here. All ages. (May) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-K-Describing the individual rooms in a house, Rylant moves from porch to attic, stopping by the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms in between. In a quiet, warm mood, the narrative delineates the gestures and activities of a multigenerational household. Halperin brings a multitude of details to life using a pastel palette of gold, green, peach, and rose. Attractive spot art picks up one item from a room, such as a hanging basket from the porch or a teapot from the kitchen, as a visual clue for readers. The love of reading is apparent-books appear throughout the dwelling. This title is similar to Daniele Bour's The House from Morning to Night Kane Miller, 1998), which chronicles each hour of the day. Because there will be something new to discover in the art with subsequent read- ings, children will repeatedly choose this book for one-on-one sharing.-Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

The warmth and reassurance of home are put in very concrete terms in this pleasing offering from the creators of the Cobble Stone Cousins series. From the front porch, which is loveliest at Christmas, to the living room, where "that is exactly what people do," to the kitchen "that reminds people to look after each other," this is a paean to the comforts of home. The bathroom, from its dinosaur sponge to its scented emollients, and the attic full of stuff, are not neglected, either. Rylant is up to her usual offhand lyricism, although she uses the old-fashioned (and off-putting) "he" as a generic: "Ask anyone to name his favorite place in a house and he will almost always say the kitchen." Halperin's detailed illustrations are full of things sure to be in someone's house somewhere: the sea-green refrigerator, the sugar bowl with the loons painted on it, a beautiful multicolored teapot. This is a house full of pets and children; stuffed animals are everywhere, a collection of marionettes hangs from the walls, and there are mobiles and toys and lovingly delineated furniture. What there isn't, interestingly enough, is any indication of television, telephones, stereo systems, or computers. Could be very cozy indeed for reading aloud and poring over. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews