The Little House (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Once upon a time there was a Little House way out in the country..." (more)
Key Phrases: Little House

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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." So begins Virginia Lee Burton's classic The Little House, winner of the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1943. The rosy-pink Little House, on a hill surrounded by apple trees, watches the days go, by from the first apple blossoms in the spring through the winter snows. Always faintly aware of the city's distant lights, she starts to notice the city encroaching on her bucolic existence. First a road appears, which brings horseless carriages and then trucks and steamrollers. Before long, more roads, bigger homes, apartment buildings, stores, and garages surround the Little House. Her family moves out and she finds herself alone in the middle of the city, where the artificial lights are so bright that the Little House can no longer see the sun or the moon. She often dreams of "the field of daisies and the apple trees dancing in the moonlight." Children will be saddened to see the lonely, claustrophobic, dilapidated house, but when a woman recognizes her and whisks her back to the country where she belongs, they will rejoice. Young readers are more likely to be drawn in by the whimsical, detailed drawings and the happy ending than by anything Burton might have been implying about the troubling effects of urbanization. (Ages 3 to 6)

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"This engaging picture book clearly presents a wealth of information." -- Review

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Paperback: 44 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper (April 26, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039525938X
• ISBN-13: 978-0395259382
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 8.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #58,355 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A little house yearns for the trees and hills of its past., May 11, 1999

By	R. D. Allison ([e-mail]) (Gainesville, Florida, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

The noted children's book about a house built on a hill away from any town. As the years pass, the city comes closer and closer and eventually surrounds the little house which misses its old hills and trees. One earlier reviewer expressed concern about the apparent anti-urban bias. I think Burton simply had a pro-nature bias rather than anti-urban. And, I think any of us, including those who live in cities or suburbia would not care to live in the sprawl that was depicted in the illustrations and was indeed present in many cities in the 1940s when the book first came out. The book won the 1943 Caldecott Medal for best illustration in a book for children.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Urban sprawl - the picture book, October 14, 2004

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Little House (Hardcover)

The year is 1942 and America has fallen head over heels in love with a whole new literary form. It's sweeping the nation! It's appearing hither and yon! Yes, in the early 1940s, picture books were suddenly awash in inanimate objects with human characteristics. Whether it was "The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge", or the Caldecott winning, "The Little House", children were reading about a variety of living breathing pieces of architecture. Virginia Lee Burton was especially good at this kind of book. Her previous venture, "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel", was a smash hit (remaining so today). So Burton decided to up the stakes a little and write a similar story about a little house. In this book, however, Burton outdoes herself by being able to convey seasons, the passage of time, and the nasty ways cities have of encroaching on country landscapes all within a scant 40 pages.

Long ago a little house was built in the country. The man who built her decided that this house, special as it was, could never be bought and sold. Instead, he planned on leaving it to his children, his children's children, and his children's children's children. Etc. The house was pleased with the arrangement. It watched the seasons go by. It watched the children that played in it grow up and move away. It even watched the changing fashions and modes of transportation. Horse and buggies one day, automobiles the next. This is all well and good until a new asphalt road appears. Suddenly it's a heckuva lot easier for people to reach the area in which the little house lives. Things get faster and suddenly the little house is surrounded by tenement houses. Then there are trolley cars (oh the trolley cars). Next comes elevated trains, and subways, and (worst of all) gigantic skyscrapers on either side of the now seriously dilapidated little house. One day, a descendent of the original owner sees the house and inquires after it. Since it turns out she owns it (I guess... the book's a little shaky on the legal aspects of ownership at this point) the house is summarily picked up by movers and taken to the country she loves so much. Happy house. Happy family. The end.

I wonder what the percentage is of children reading this book and realizing that, in time, the city will probably come to surround the little house yet again. There has probably never been a better book that delineates so clearly the horrors of urban sprawl. On a less hoity-toity level, this is just a darn good book. Burton's illustrations are simple little paintings with tiny human figures. Due to the fact that there are nineteen pictures of the little house that are basically looking at it straight on without any change in perspective or angle, it's mind-boggling that Burton has still managed to make every single illustration unique and interesting. Whether she's filled the page with autumnal colors, or is driving home the horror of the little house's fate through stark black and white images, these pictures are incredibly well done. Kids reading the book will enjoy the different vehicles and tiny human figures that dot each page. Adults will enjoy the craft Burton has taken with her storytelling.

There are a lot of Caldecott award winning books that have aged oh-so badly. "Animals of the Bible" comes to mind as does the gawdawful "Abraham Lincoln" by the Parin d'Aulaires. This book, however, is well worthy of its praise. It may not be a flashy irony-soaked post-modern picture book like the ones being written today (and admittedly, I love a good irony-soaked picture book as much as the next gal) but it holds its ground and deserves to be remembered. Give it half a chance and you'll wind up loving it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An all-time American classic., January 10, 2001

By	bruce horner (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This has got to be the best all-round Virginia Lee Burton book, which means it's one of the best children's books of all time. The simple prose reaches a level of lyricism not found in Mike Mulligan, and the illustrations have a folksy charm and energy that's just right. Reading it as an adult, one thinks of all the little houses that were NOT saved, and of the ongoing suburban sprawl that's even now despoiling the landscape, but the fact that the eponymous little house is moved and cared for once again by the end makes it a good story for little kids. Other books by Burton tend to wear me down with repetition, but this one remains fresh with almost every rereading that my kids demand.