If you were asked to describe your house to someone who had never visited, what would you say? Before diving into this book, I asked that of myself and was only astounded by how booooring my description was. Thank goodness Marianne Dubuc's descriptive abilities are far more fascinating. Her vision, coupled with her wonderfully simple illustrations. make this a tour you won't want to miss.
This is such a sweet little story about all the tiny details that come to light when you take a hard look at your surroundings. It starts off ordinarily enough: "On a little hill, behind a brown fence, under a big oak tree, is .... my house." And then it drills down into tho details that so many of us take for granted, like the little bird who has taken up residence in the rose bush, or that striped green sock flung under the bed, wayward for three months and counting.
This particular tour twists and turns erratically, jumping from the green sock to a book of fairy tales nearby. From there, it positively takes off, because there certainly is no limit to the imagination when it comes to a fictional book. We meet a family of upstanding rabbits and traipse through a very green forest before coming face to face with the Abominable Snowman. After a quick trip through outer space and across the big blue sea, we meet every type of imaginable creature, including a blue whale named Babette. Through the zoo and across the city, we spot a little hill that seems awfully familiar. "On the little hill ... my house." The tour has come full circle.
Reading this has the effect of allowing you to view your own dwelling in a new light. You may very well feel inspired to put together your own tour. If Marianne Dubuc can include a pirate and a hunk of cheese as part of her tour, what would you include in yours? This is both lovely to leaf though and infinitely inspiring.
Review copy provided by Kids Can Press.
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