The Little House

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Summary: Welcome Home, Little House.....
Review: "Once upon a time there was a Little House way out in the country. She was a pretty Little House and she was strong and well built." She sat on a hill covered with daisies and surrounded by apple trees, and enjoyed the sun during the day, the moon and stars at night, and the changing seasons. And way, way off in the distance she could see just a hint of the city lights. "The Little House was curious about the city and wondered what it would be like to live there." One day surveyors came, then steam shovels, trucks, and steam rollers, and soon they had built a road. "Now the Little House watched the trucks and automobiles going back and forth to the city. Gasoline stations...roadside stands...and small houses followed the new road. Everyone and everything moved much faster now than before." Soon more roads were built, then more houses, apartments, tenements, schools, stores, and garages crowded the Little House. A trolley ran back and forth in front of her, an elevated train ran above her, and a subway beneath. She was sad and lonely, dirty and in disrepair. "No one wanted to live in her and take care of her any more." Then one fine morning the great-great-granddaughter of the man who built the Little House was hurrying by. She recognized the poor Little House and stopped..... Originally published in 1942, Virginia Lee Burton's timeless classic is as fresh and charming today, as it was sixty years ago. Her gentle and engaging text is full of empathy, and brings the endearing Little House to life. Youngsters will feel the joy and contentment of country life when the Little House had purpose and was full of family and fun, and the sadness and loneliness as the city encroaches, and she becomes shabby, broken, and forgotten. Ms Burton's sweet and simple, illustrations are whimsical, and add just the right touch. Perfect for little ones 3-7 and complete with a satisfying happily-ever-after ending, The Little House is a perfect little treasure to read and share with friends and family now, and future generations in the years to come.

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Summary: Beautiful Little Story
Review: A simple, honest story about remembering to cherish what is closest to your heart. Although I may not be the typical age that this book is intended for, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it for an audience of children through adults who want to be reminded of what is most important in life. Beautiful, heartwarming illustrations and a tender story about a lovely Little House.

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Summary: Charming story with a purpose
Review: Although this award-winning children's picture book was written many years ago, it is amazingly relevant for today. The story follows the life of a little house, built long ago in the countryside and then slowly swallowed up by the spreading tide of urbanization, only to find itself surrounded by tall buildings, noise and hubbub, and condemned to destruction. The house is restored to happiness by being moved back out into the countryside, where it can once again ejoy the night sky and the songs of birds and laughter of children playing. Young children, age 2 to 6, will enjoy the story and pictures, even if they don't care about urbanization or anything else.

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Summary: A must have!
Review: An endearing classic. Very charming; especially in today's fast paced over-developing world. Buy it. Read it to your children. They (and you) will love it.

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Summary: The Little House
Review: As with many of the reviewers here, this was my favorite book as a child, and I consider it to be Virginia Lee Burton's quintessential work. While all her books are wonderful, none have the childlike simplicity and artistry of The Little House.

That this book won the Caldecott Medal is no surprise. The illustrations jump off the page. Each page is meticulously drawn with enough vibrant color and detail to peruse for several minutes. Each of the seasons in the country is vividly pictured. As the city encroaches upon the Little House, the frame changes subtly from page to page to show the slow transition from rural to urban life.

Both of my children (6 and 3 years of age) are captivated by the illustrations and the story. Reading this book aloud to them brings back fond memories of the countless hours I spent engrossed in it as a child. I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful it truly is. Even 60 years after it was written, it still has the power to tug at the heart.

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Summary: One of the greatest children's book ever written.
Review: As with many of the reviewers here, this was my favorite book as a child, and I consider it to be Virginia Lee Burton's quintessential work. While all her books are wonderful, none have the childlike simplicity and artistry of The Little House.

That this book won the Caldecott Medal is no surprise. The illustrations jump off the page. Each page is meticulously drawn with enough vibrant color and detail to peruse for several minutes. Each of the seasons in the country is vividly pictured. As the city encroaches upon the Little House, the frame changes subtly from page to page to show the slow transition from rural to urban life.

Both of my children (6 and 3 years of age) are captivated by the illustrations and the story. Reading this book aloud to them brings back fond memories of the countless hours I spent engrossed in it as a child. I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful it truly is. Even 60 years after it was written, it still has the power to tug at the heart.

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Summary: Combination of Illustrations and Text
Review: Burton, Virginia Lee. The Little House. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1942.

Landes, Sonia. "Picture Books as Literature." Children's Literature Association Quarterly. 10.2 (1985): pg. 51- 54.

The Little House is a children's book filled with lots of illustrations and color changes which helps the author describe the story line along with having words. This story starts with a little house built in the countryside, and the man who built it says, "The Little House shall never be sold for gold or silver and she will live to see our great-great-grandchildren's great-great-grandchildren living in her." Therefore, the Little House stays in the same spot and watches the time go by and wonders what it would be like to live in the city that is beginning to grow nearby. As the city grows around it, the poor Little House is sad and stays that way till a family member moves it back to the country to stay forever. As Sonia Landes commented in her 1985 Children's Literature Association Quarterly article, "Picture Books as Literature", "One role of pictures in a picture book is to enhance the meaning of the story by illustrating the words" (51). Burton succeeds in fulfilling this role by drawing the front of the Little House like a face that illustrates every feeling. In the beginning of the story, it was a quaint little house. The house has a happy expression: the front steps curl up as if in a smile. The happiness of the house is not only shown through the face of the house but through the use of different colors. During the good times, the Little House and the background surrounding it are decorated with bright colors such as green, yellow, and red. The house keeps this happy look throughout the first part of the book, and the coloring in these periods is very bright too. Burton is able to show that the house is happy for an extended period of time by illustrating the seasons. Through the book, the reader understands that it is springtime because of the new harvest and the blossoming pink trees. The text reads, "In the Spring, when the days grew longer and the sun warmer." As the reader keeps turning the pages, summer is the next season that is portrayed, with kids playing in a blue pool beside the house. The story then explains how she, "Watches the garden grow, and she watches the apples turn red and ripen." This transformation is even further illustrated via the drawings of fall and winter. As the story goes on and the house is surrounded by the city, the house even looks sad because the windows are cracked and the front door is blocked off to everyone. Its face is in the shape of a frown. The colors around the house change to dark colors like gray and black. The sky that is bright blue in the beginning is now black, and the beautiful seasons are no longer able to be distinguished between one another. As Burton explains, "The air was filled with dust and smoke, and the noise was so loud that it shook the Little House. Now she couldn't tell when Spring came, or Summer or Fall, or Winter. It all seemed the same." Finally, when the house gets to move back to the country, it has the smiling steps and a happy appearance again. The changing of colors from the dark city to the bright country is extremely vivid during the moving stage. As the house is being rolled to the country, the background drawing features the city with gray and brown buildings, and as it gets closer to the new land, pink flowers appear again. The sky is now clearer, and the little house is able to tell the difference between the seasons again. The illustrations and coloring both strengthen the change in the mood of the story and describe it. This cycle of moods from happy to sad to happiness again is used quite often in children's books. This is illustrated in other books like Steig's, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and also Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. "The classic, archetypal children's closure theme is the quest--what I like to call Home-Adventure-Home" (Landes 53). Many authors end with a happy ending because it gives the reader a sense of security that everything is alright. The authors feel that if a child is scared of the ending, they will not likely recommend the book to their friends or read it again. Therefore, book authors, such as Burton, like to end their story with a sense of security. Burton did a wonderful job at opening the story with a bright, happy beginning. Then she allowed the Little House to experience a little discomfort in her happy life, but she made sure that by the end everything was better again. The house was out of the dark, crowded city and back to the colorful countryside. There the Little House could watch the changing seasons, and the house could leave peacefully.

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Summary: A wonderful, innocent story and one of my childhood favorite
Review: I bought this book for my daughter before she was even born. I loved this book as a child. My daughter is 2 now, but the book does not hold her attention. I bring it out every so often though to see if she is ready for it. I hope she will enjoy it as much as I did.

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Summary: The Best Book Ever!
Review: I finally found it. This was my favorite book as a child. When I had my first child 2 years ago I started looking for this book, not knowing the title or the author. I am now buying it for my little girl. I just hope she loves it as much as I did.

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Summary: An American Classic
Review: I have read two of Virginia Lee Burtons' books to my 6 year old son as part of his homeschooling work. I was discussing them with a friend who is also using the same program as we are, and she recomended The Little House to us. I can't believe that I had never read it before. It is amazing. We where both in tears over the sad circumstances that overcame the little house and where so pleased to find her 'renewal and redemption'... A wonderful book on perserverance, look closely and you can teach on historical, economical and enviromental issues. This book has become one of those must have gifts for our friends also.