A House in the Woods by Inga Moore Ages 3 – 7 (2.5-year-old son adores it). Candlewick. Nov 2011. Fiction. 48 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0763652777. $16.99At a Glance:
A beautiful, lovely, and conflict-free picture book. Everyone is nice to each other, everyone works together, and there’s a sweet ending to it. This book only promotes good things.
My son loves this book! It’s calming, interesting, humorous, and did I mention that everyone is nice to each other? They are. It’s so good.
Animals have genders in this book, but none of the genders are stereotyped. That’s nice, too. The illustrations are stunning and each page is a work of art. Each illustration is done in pastel, pencil, and wash. It gives the story a very romantic and bygone-era/fairy tale feel to it.
You can read this book to most anyone at anytime and anywhere and it will be an appropriate and enjoyable book. It’s a treasure.
Summary:
One day two little pigs go out into the woods for a walk.
When they return they find that other animals (a bear and a moose) have moved into their respective homes. Unfortunately, the larger animals have accidentally wrecked their homes.
The moose, bear, and two pigs decide that they should build a big house and live together.
They call the beavers and together start working on the house. When the house is finished, moose, bear, and the two pigs pay the beavers in peanut butter sandwiches (which is the way beavers prefer to be paid for their labor).
Moose, bear, and the two pigs return to their beautiful new home. They eat supper, wash dishes, tell stories around the fire, and go to bed.
Good night, Bear.
Good night, Moose.
Goodnight, Little Pigs.
Sweet dreams, everyone!
Our Experience Reading this Book:
Reading this book is like taking a deep breath of fresh air out in the middle of a beautiful forest. It’s relaxing and sweet, but never boring.
My son loves that the animals build a house together. He thinks construction of all kinds is the most fascinating thing ever and he also loves animals and fairy tales. This book combines all of his favorite things into one well-told story.
We’ve never read this book just once. Each time we read it, we reread it two or three more times.
The illustrations of the animals building a house are quite detailed and regularly inspire my son to ask questions. We’ve had great discussions about scaffolding, pulleys, and concrete mixers while reading this book.
Author/Illustrator website:
- Inga Moore doesn’t have a website.
- http://pinterest.com/austenpal/need-more-inga-moore/ is a board dedicated to her work.
- Goodreads has a list of books she has written and illustrated: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/279134.Inga_Moore
Resources:
- How House Construction Works: http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/repair/house.htm (Interesting article on how to build a house.)
- http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/animals-pets-kids/mammals-kids/beaver-kids/ (Video of Beavers building a dam)
- Another great picture book: How a House Is Built by Gail Gibbons is excellent.
- Great article on why beavers build dams: http://animal.discovery.com/mammals/beaver-dam.htm
Some of My Favorite Reviews of this Book:
- http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2011/12/29/review-of-the-day-a-house-in-the-woods-by-inga-moore/
- http://arepreading.tumblr.com/post/8339940641/select-candlewick-fall-11
- http://www.sproutsbookshelf.com/2012/02/picture-book-review-house-in-woods-by.html
- http://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/inga-moores-home-sweet-home/
- http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=2262 (with some beautiful images from the book)
The Picture Book Review 
Lovely choice. Reminds me a lot of a book I read as a youngster. What year was it published? It has a peaceful quality about it. Like the cover too.
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It was published in 2011. The whole book is very peaceful. It’s a nice change of pace from the books I usually read to my son.
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Great book. I read this last year.
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I’m so glad you like it! 🙂
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48 pages – that alone is amazing! Will definitely look for this book. 🙂
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🙂 I think you’ll love it. It is a joy to read and a nice break from all the chaos in this world.
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I have read this and it is utterly adorable. With all the unpleasant news of late, yes, it is lovely to read a story with no conflict!
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Amen!
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I LOVE the illos in this book – have had it out from the library a number of times. Just for me!
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I really like that cover! And I like the idea of the animals all living together. Looks like a lovely book. I’ll have to check it out! Thanks for sharing!
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This looks lovely. Can’t wait to find it!
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Beautiful, love the themes of this book. Thanks for sharing.
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I read an edition of ‘The Wind in the Willows’ illustrated by Inga Moore and fell in love with her artwork. This sounds like a wonderful, cozy one to read, too, and I’ll be looking for it from my library!
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