160. A House

A House. Kevin Henkes. 2021. [September] 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: A house. Where is the door? What color is it?

Premise/plot: Kevin Henkes' newest book is A House. What you see is what you get--a simple drawing of a house, simple questions, very little--if any--plot. And yet despite its simplicity and repetitive nature it manages to ask and answer the question, "When does a house become a home?" It's an indirect question, to be sure.

My thoughts: Critics seem to love, love, love this one. It's received multiple starred reviews, and has even been called brilliant.

It is simple. It starts out asking extremely basic questions about the concepts of colors and shapes. It moves beyond those concepts to others--night and day, different types of weather, etc. But it isn't until towards the end where those questions become a bit more abstract. The people are drawn or rendered more like toys--think Fisher-Price Little People, old school--than actual people. I haven't decided if that is charming or weird. On the one hand, perhaps the house is a toy house??? On the other hand??? I don't have one. If it's not a toy house in a child's room and the author is playing around with us--the readers--then it's just strange.

 

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers