Customer Reviews

The Great Blue House

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Anyone who ever owned or dreamed of owning a summer home will be attracted to "The Great Blue House." However, the talented team of Kate Banks and Georg Hallensleben offer a different take on vacation homes. The magic in this story is not found in the good times the family has during the warm months, but rather on how the house awaits their return through the fall, winter and early spring.

When the family leaves, "The gate is locked. The windows are sealed tight. In the yard the grass lies flat. All is quiet in the great blue house. Or is it?"

There are noises inside the house - a faucet drips, a cupboard door swings open, and a mouse nibbles at crumbs. As the days grow cold frost covers the windowpanes and we're invited to "Listen to it buckle and crack." Soon, a stray cat has found a new home in a woodbox inside the house, and high in the attic a bird hides from the cat.

After winter, rain comes and spring arrives as the bird builds a nest and the cat "settles into a secret dream." When the family returns in the summer they're delighted to find fledglings and baby kittens. Summer and life return to the great blue house.

Hallensleben's double page paintings are bold, bright, Impressionistic - quite beautiful.

- Gail Cooke

This is a story of a Great Blue House, but are those the only colors to be found in this house? No! This tells a simple story of a supposedly empty house where a lot is happening leaves are fluttering etc. outside and a mouse is eating crumbs in the kitchen. The book offers many impressionist pictures and a world of color in house where everything isn't as it seems. This book is good for art classes as well as young children.

Gorgeous, color-saturated illustrations, a simple story for young listeners, and a happy ending for all. My granddaughter loves this book.

... and no one's there to hear it, then what happens in a summer home during the off season? The premise for this book is certainly an interesting one. Who wouldn't wonder what goes on in an empty house? Actually, the house isn't entirely empty. No human is in the house. But at least one mouse and one spider are busy at work. We can also expect the typical creaks and groans of the building, the dripping of a leaky faucet.

What disturbs me are the stray cat with the run of the house and the bird in the attic. I'm obviously considering this from an adult viewpoint and an animal lover viewpoint. How did those animals get into the house? The nooks and crannies that they found to get inside would also be available to any other animals of their size. Then why aren't more cats and birds (or destructive squirrels) inside? While I'm almost grateful that these creatures have a safe and protected place to spend the winter, I'm worried about them. What are they eating? Is the kitty using the kitchen floor as a litter box, or does she always go back outside to do her business? Why does she curl up in an uncomfortable wood box near the stove, which probably isn't turned on? The family didn't irresponsibly leave her behind, did they? What about the bird in the attic? Is she able to fly in and out? How much whitewash is on the floor beneath her perch? The author doesn't speculate on any of those realities.

When good weather and the summer residents return, there are also baby birds and kittens on the scene. (Aha! There must have been a second bird and a second cat, somewhere along the line.) The birds will be fine, of course. (Is the whole brood living in the attic? Egad!) But what will become of the kittens? Will the humans adopt them? If so, will the arrangement be just for the summer, or will they take them home at the end of the season? Or are they doomed to be strays like their Mom? Is someone in charge of shooing all the birds from the top floor? What a trial that could be. We see a happy family at the end, ready to spend another summer in their favorite place. What we don't see is anyone cleaning up the mess in the attic or getting the sofa reupholstered because it was used for months as a scratching post.

Again, I like the premise of the book. At the same time, I'm troubled by its presentation. Savvy youngsters and parents who are cat and / or bird owners or appreciators may be just as uncomfortable as I am. Obviously, to make the story more intriguing, there might have to be something bigger than a mouse in the house. But there are consequences that go along with that decision. Wouldn't someone have to prepare the house for human habitation for the summer? Fix the holes, tidy up the place? Maybe I'm asking too much of a children's picture book. I wanted to like this book, and I'm finding it difficult to do so.