Building Our House
An author’s note reveals that this picture book is based on personal experience, as Bean’s parents built their own house when he was a young child. Here we follow a mother, father, two children (and, eventually, a new baby) over the course of a year and a half—through a harsh winter and plenty of lumber pickups—all the way to move-in day at their new abode. Told from the point of view of the oldest child, a girl, the challenges and rewards involved in constructing from scratch become clear. The kids are not exempt from the do-it-yourself action, and they happily help “fill the loud mixing machine.” Bean (At Night, 2007) makes use of every inch of the tall trim size here, filling his pages to the brim with heavily lined illustrations of bustling people and activity—often as a series of four vignettes across a spread. What’s heartwarming throughout is the depiction of a tight-knit family (“My family makes up a strong crew of four”). The author’s concluding personal photos add to the loving feel. Grades K-3. --Ann Kelley