Building Our House

We are building a timberframe home with 2 children that could stand in as doubles for the ones in this book. Beyond the beautiful watercolors and well written narration throughout the book, what really struck me were all of the stories going on that were left unsaid. The kids hiding under the wheelbarrow to get out of the rain. The girl handing her grandmother flowers she had found. Chasing falling leaves as their parents side their house. The wild cats that they take in that were chasing each other have kittens. Drinking hot chocolate and falling asleep next to the wood stove on the first night they had it installed. What you really sense is that this is not just a book about a house, but a collection of childhood memories lovingly brought back to life through watercolors.

Our kids (especially the 3 year old) love this book. The youngest is CONVINCED the author is his friend. It's such a heart warming, fun book.

The book just arrived and my 2 1/2 year old grandson absolutely loved it. We read through it four times the day he visited. The pictures and the details of the different construction steps are wonderful. His favorite question is: What are they doing? He even liked the real-life photos at the back showing some of the actual construction around which the true story is written.

Great book for my boys. They loved the characters and illustrations. Could talk for some time about every page!

"Building Our House," by Jonathan Bean is loosely based on the house that his parents built when Jonathan was an infant. The book is engaging, the plot fascinating--a new family house and how it got built--and the artwork enchanting. This over-sized book of few pages covers just enough of how a homemade house is made to convey the spirit of building without includng nonessential (for the intended age group) technical detail. There is not much text but what there is, is to the point, large, and closely connected to the artwork. The back of the book contains photos of his parents' house construction, and an author's note. The binding is reinforced to withstand youthful enthusiasm. I have not seen a better book for young children in the just-learning stage of reading, and a bit older. I enjoyed it too, as an adult. Highly recommended.

Gosh this book was a hit in our house, and not because we're a family of builders. (On the contrary...) This sweet picture book about the adventure of building a house completely fascinated our 3-1/2 year old granddaughter and led to many, many re-readings and many, many questions about plumbing and wiring. (I had to go to the internet to answer some of her questions.) Factually very interesting for a small kid, but more than that, a quite charming description of the author's own experiences as a kid helping his family build their home. (Though he turned the narrator into a girl-- not quite sure why that was necessary.) But so sweet, so charming, so heartfelt. Loved it.

I love this book! The illustrations are so pleasant to the eye, it makes you want to read it under the covers on a rainy sunday morning. Even though the size of the book is a little on the big side, i think the format plays well with the story layout. The story is compelling and Jonathan manages to deliver it with a punchy rhythm. I recommand this book warm heatedly.

I found this book at the library a few weeks ago. We read it almost every night we had it checked out. Like the family in the story we packed up all our things and moved to the country last spring. We are in the process of buying 20 acres which we will be building a house ourselves on next spring. I also really like the illustrations and the book is printed on some paper that is similar to drawing paper or watercolor paper. At the end of the book the author includes some photos and a little information on his real life experience as a kid having his family build their own house. Of course we had to buy the book we love it so much!

What a relaxing good story. We first got it from the library then decided to buy it so we can read it for the kids all the time

We love this book ever since we found it at our local library. With both parents having been in/in design/construction industry, it is a family favourite as we dream of building our own house one day!

child loved the book. was excited for the whole waiting period until it arrived.thanks for the partial shipment to make it here for easter.perfect timing.

This book is wonderful.

Nice art. Inspiring for those with similar interests. The writing itself is not particularly poetic though so gave it a 4 not 5 for that reason.