Review: It's National Roof Over Your Head Day!

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TITLE: THIS HOUSE ONCE
AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Deborah Freedman
PUBLISHER: Atheneum Books for Young Readers/2017
OPENING LINE: This door was once a colossal oak tree about three hugs around and as high as the blue.



This book. I loved it at once. I was drawn to the dreamy book jacket (I always am by Deborah Freedman’s art), followed by the “surprise” cover underneath, then drawn in even more by the title pages that gave hints of what was to come—a bit of dirt, some stones, and a tiny kitten playing with falling leaves. Ah. 

Then that first line and illustration. What a perfect way to describe what a door once was: “a colossal oak tree about three hugs around and as high as the blue.” Those few words on one page and a small door on the opposite surrounded by white space allow the reader let the words and the imagery sink in. Three hugs. As high as the blue. Turn the page…there it is! Three hugs around. As high as the blue. Turn the page again, and find out what the foundation once was. And the walls. And so on and so on until…you’ll have to read for yourself! And I highly recommend that you do. 
 
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