A Very Special House [Hardcover]

Ruth Krauss (Author), Maurice Sendak (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 2 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Continuing a two-year program to bring back twenty-two Maurice Sendak treasures long out of print, our second season of publication highlights one of the most successful author-illustrator pairings of all time. A pioneer of great children's literature, Ruth Krausspublished more than thirty books for children during a career that spanned forty years. Krauss and Sendak collaborated on eight books, and we are delighted to reintroduce four of these gems in brand-new editions, together with a favorite Maurice Sendak picture book.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Now in its second season, HarperCollins's reissue of 22 Sendak classics continues. This time, his collaborations with Ruth Krauss take center stage. In Charlotte and the White Horse, first published in 1955, creamy pages frame Sendak's softly lit illustrations of a girl who convinces her father to keep a wobbly legged horse and cares for him until he can stand on his own. Sendak's delicate watercolors suit the dream-like mood of a boy who accomplishes all that he sets out to do in his imaginary world, in I Want to Paint My Bathroom Blue (1956), also by Krauss. A boy's imagination also comes to the fore in A Very Special House (1953) by Krauss, as the artist depicts the hero creating a home filled with a turtle, a giant, a very old lion and "some monkeys and some skunkeys." Oversize pages brim with the creatures as well as his house's "very special" furnishings. Open House for Butterflies (1960) takes a similar format to these collaborators' classic A Hole Is to Dig, and lastly, Hector Protector and As I Went Over the Water: Two Nursery Rhymes (1965) by Sendak conveys as much plot through the artist's wordless spreads as with the minimal text. For collectors and budding readers alike. Nov.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Most, most special indeed! What fun! Sheer nonsense in text and pictures, the inimitable drawings of Mr. Sendak. -- Saturday Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (November 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060286385
• ISBN-13: 978-0060286385
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #318,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

This outstanding American illustrator and author was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1928, the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland. Sendak's career as an illustrator began after a stint as a window dresser. He illustrated more than 40 books between 1951 and 1962. Where the Wild Things Are--the book that made Sendak's name internationally, appeared in 1964, and its popularity has never waned.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm getting one for every child I know, March 29, 2000

By 

Niloc Regne - See all my reviews

This review is from: Very Special House (Library Binding)

This book came to our family as a hand-me-down from a neighbor for my 2-year-old son, and now we can't live with out it. The rhymes are so witty, entertaining and infectious that I can't tell people about the book without quoting verbatim. Krauss's playful use of language is eternally endearing and Sendaks quirky illustrations of chair-chomping lions and clumsy giants are a treasure. I had feared that this book would be out of print. Now that I have found it, I am buying it for every child (and parent) I know starting with my three-year-old nephew.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More More More! More More More!, April 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Very Special House (Library Binding)

...and it's just a house for me me me
At first reading, somewhat bizarre. So read it twice! It grows on you; it grew into our favorite children's book. It screams to be read aloud; the rhymes aren't Seuss-ly annoying, and the rhythms are interesting.
"...they and I are making music
and we're falling over laughing"
The simple illustrations (Sendak, I think?) are great. Krauss's expressions of child-ego are true-to-my-memory, and rang bells with my kids. I could not afford books back then; fortunately our children's librarian had my taste in books (I don't recall any Berenstain Bears!); but this was one book I HAD TO OWN. It makes a very JOYFUL noise. Read it, then find a copy of Pete Seeger's or Woody Guthries' folk songs for kids... a perfect hour.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Looooong time favorite, August 4, 2005

By 

Kate "kalohe" (Apex, NC, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Very Special House (Hardcover)

This was a Caldecott Medal winner in 1954. I think I got it as a Christmas gift a few years later. I loved it . . . I could recite it perfectly by the time I was 5 or 6. When my daughter was born, I got another copy, and it became a fast favorite again. It was lost in a move a few years ago, and my daughter, now 16, was mentioning the other day that she wished we hadn't lost it. I came out here to look, hoping that there might be a used copy I could get her for her next birthday, and wonder of wonders, there's a fresh new copy available. I'll have to read it a few times before her birthday, because I don't think she'll let me read it aloud to her anymore. Maybe she'll read it to me when I can't fall asleep.