The House in the Meadow [Hardcover]

Shutta Crum (Author), Paige Billin-Frye (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

Over in the meadow there's a spring wedding, with the couple's 10 best friends to celebrate. What's next? A house! 9 diggers, 8 masons, 7 carpenters, 6 well diggers, etc. show up with all their trucks and tools to build a new house.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-A clever idea inspired by Olive A. Wadsworth's classic counting poem, "Over in the Meadow." This version begins with a springtime wedding attended by 10 best friends and counts down as the community comes together "when spring came again" to build the couple a home in a meadow. The poetry is awkward when read aloud-"Over in the meadow, beside forms strong and straight,/Peter mixed concrete with his messy masons 8./`Pour!' said Peter. `We pour,' said the 8./So they poured the concrete into forms strong and straight." Attractive spreads of cut-paper collage carefully detail the process through the seasons, indoors and out, and end with a sunny scene, a picnic, to celebrate the completion of the home and birth of the couple's son. Many ethnicities are represented, and men and women of various ages work together side by side. Women own businesses-painting, plumbing, and moving-and the electricians are "John Bright & Daughters." An additional purchase, with much stronger art than text.
Linda M. Kenton, San Rafael Public Library, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 2. Colorful collage and mixed-media illustrations decorate this new take on the traditional counting rhyme "Over in the Meadow." In this version, a couple celebrate their marriage with their "best friends 10," then break ground for a new house. The house rises in the meadow, thanks to cheerful "diggers 9," "masons 8," "carpenters 7," and so on, until "inspector 1" makes sure everything is done. Crum neatly fits descriptions of house building into the format of the song, covering everything from the masons who pour the foundation, to the roofers, the plumbers, and the electricians, and the illustrations are both cheerful and clever. Billin-Frye effectively uses crisply cut solid-color and patterned papers, overlapping them to give the pictures a three-dimensional look. This book works on many levels: as a creative counting book, a familiar sing-along, and an appealing introduction to building a house. It will also be great for reading aloud. Diane Foote
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807533939
• ISBN-13: 978-0807533932
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,053,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Over in the Meadow....., June 6, 2003

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: The House in the Meadow (Hardcover)

"Over in the meadow, it was springtime when.../came a bride and a groom and their best friends 10./"And now..." said the couple. "A house!" said the 10./So they planned through the year, and when spring came again..." Inspired by Olive Wadsworth's classic poem Over In The Meadow, author Shutta Crum's creative and fun-filled picture book combines learning numbers and house building. Soon the countdown begins as first 9 construction workers, then 8 masons, and 7 carpenters show up with tools and heavy equipment to begin the job. Then 6 well drillers, 5 roofers, 4 plumbers, 3 electricians, and 2 painters complete the house. Last but not least Inspector Number 1 arrives. "So he looked and he listed. Everything was done!" Ms Crum's exuberant rhythmic, rhyming text is engaging, and complemented by Paige Billin-Frye's bold, bright, and playful collage artwork. A perfect selection for circle or story time, The House In The Meadow is a charming, clever sing-along, and preschoolers will revel in all the counting and building fun. "Over in the meadow, by the house, in the sun,/waved the wife and the husband and their new little one./"Home!" said the couple. "You're home,"said everyone./Then they lived in the meadow,/in their house that was done!"

5.0 out of 5 stars A Year in 32 pages, May 24, 2010

By 

LittleSproutBooks - See all my reviews

This review is from: The House in the Meadow (Hardcover)

Inspired by the counting poem "Over in the Meadow," the story follows the life of a couple from their marriage to the completion of their home. "A bride and a groom and their best friends 10" celebrate their marriage in the meadow, then the countdown brings a myriad of workers and community members who contribute to the construction of their home, including masons, carpenters, and plumbers, right down to inspector number 1. The rhythm sometimes gets a little sticky with the construction vocabulary, but B loved talking about each worker and seeing the house take shape with each turn of the page. The illustrations are cut-paper collage, striking and bold. I appreciated that the workers represented various ethnicities and included women as the leaders of several crews. The home is completed the following spring, just in time for the couple to move in with their new little one. With my experience limited to home renovations rather than construction, I can only imagine that year would feel like an eternity, and yet at the end, that couple with the new baby would look back at their wedding and say, "has it really been a whole year?"
Beyond the bouncy rhyme and counting practice, there are some good opportunities to stretch that cognitive development if you extend the discussion around the book. As I mentioned, the community represented is diverse, and you may want to highlight that with your child, emphasizing the choices he or she has. Though not the backbone of the story, the book also depicts the passage of time and seasons - a very tough concept for a young child. The illustrations help show the changes in the scenery, and if you live in an area with distinct seasonal changes, you might want to page through the story with a photo album near by and track the passage of a year in your town. The House in the Meadow also offers an ever-so-simple introduction to the concepts of marriage and children, which you may choose to elaborate upon with your child if it seems appropriate. Finally, you can extend the discussion further to the social domain by highlighting the importance of the various community workers in accomplishing the goal. Point out that each has a special talent that was important to the final product. Community workers are often a part of the social studies curriculum for kindergarten and/or primary grades, check with your child's teacher if you'd like to use this story to help your child make connections.
Also reviewed at Little Sprout Books

5.0 out of 5 stars A nightly read!, June 14, 2007

By 

A. Frank (SEATTLE, Washington USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The House in the Meadow (Hardcover)

My two year old loves this book. We read it every night (It's too short to be annoying for me). I think it's broadening his world, helping him to see the works behind his own home. He asks questions now about where the water goes after his bath and why the lights turn on. I can reference the book in my answers to his satisfaction. It also compliments his growing interest in trucks, tools and machinery. Very nice twist on an old standard, for toddlers and preschoolers.
(In contrast, another favorite book we often read adjacent to this one is "Henry Builds a Cabin," by DB Johnson)