Customer Reviews

We Were Tired of Living in a House

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Stick to the older version of this book. I wish who ever thinks it is okay to republishing books with inferior illustration would just STOP! Just because it's for children doesn't mean the pictures should be rendered so crudely.

This is the first book I bought with my own money, at a library sale one summer afternoon.

Skorpen weaves a poetic tale of a group of siblings as they explore more exciting places to live than a house. They live in a tree, on a beach, in a cave and so on, gathering momentos of each place before something happens to make them move on. In the end, they find that a house is a good place for children. On the way, Skorpen's well-crafted words sing and Burn's beautiful two-tone drawings make this book a memorable place for children. It is a book that is "...a particular friend." The later editions replace Burn's art with cartoonish color-mad images that cutsie up the whole thing and ruin the oetic impact. Go with the 1969 version, it is endlessly more beautiful!

This book was one of my favorites as a child. I am glad to see that it is still in print. We just moved into a HOUSE when our twins came along. And we brought along a frog, "who is a particular friend" although this one is plastic and guards our front door. So I'm purchasing this book to see the new illustrations, although the original illustrations were favorites of mine. Thankfully I still have my childhood copy as well.

As a child I would read this wonderful book and let my imagination carry me away. I loved the ideas of not living in a house and filling my bags with treasures. "We Were Tired of Living in a House" inspired most of my backyard adventures, especially the ones in my treehouse. This book delights me still and I am thrilled to find it back in print. I have looked for it for years, hoping that someday my own children would read this book and feel its magic. My old copy's spine broke and the pages fell out because I read it so much as a child. It spent the past 10 years in storage because of its delicate condition but I missed its simple and beautiful message. When I moved recently, I decided that no matter what shape it was in, it was meant to be savored. I love it so much that I read it to my husband twice last week! I am grateful from the bottom of my heart for the reprint of such a treasure.

I adored this book as a child, I'm now in my 40's and still love it. My children have loved it and now I'm buying it for my niece. I have a very old and well preserved copy, but can't wait to see the new printed version. A wonderful adventure story for kids of all ages and a reminder of how nice it is to come home!

This beautifully illustrated story brought back great memories of my own treehouse days and cool campout nights. Great for sparking the imagination of young ones today toward creating their own memories. I had only one problem. It was with the text going from "...our roof in the autumn turned scarlet and gold" on one page and three pages later "And pond frogs sang with us on summer nights." The emphasis in both illustration and text leans heavily on autumn color and flavor. Did I miss something with the interjection of summer? This could be a little confusing for young readers. Otherwise a wonderful, whimsical journey.

My twins are 7, my "baby" is 5, my oldest is 8 yearsold, and we love this book very much! .... ...beautiful illustrations by Doris Burn which featured 2 boys and 2 girls, like my own household. WE LOVE IT! .... It is priceless! from Lauren, Jacob, Leah and Alex's mom in North Carolina

The best thing about this book is the original drawings done by Doris Burn. This new edition loses a lot of the magic and nostalgia that the original had.

I love the story, love the rhythm but the original is 100 times superior to this one.

We Were Tired Of Living in a House is a rhythmic, poetic story of children discovering that there is no place like home. The illustration of the various places that they go to live, keep children's eyes lit up with colorful images and comical expressions. We loved it!

I remember reading this book as a child - I read it over and over to my sisters and cousins. As time went on I forgot about the book until I had grandchildren that I read to often...they asked me, "grandma did you read this book when you were little?" and "what books did you read?" So...thinking about that brought this book back into my memories and made me smile. I purchased the book and now read it to my grand daughter and it brings back fond memories each and every time. Thanks!!!