The House in the Night is a picture book illustrated mostly with black & white drawings. The story is about a family coming home at night, where there is a light shining in the window. The child of the family gets ready for bed, then picks up a storybook. The child is "carried" all around the city on the wings of a bird from the story book, then gets tucked into bed. It's a very sweet story, and one that young children will probably enjoy over and over again.
To me, the best part of the book is the illustrations. Each page is in black & white, but has golden yellow on the "brightest" parts of the pages. For example, in the bedroom scene, the sun in the storybook, teddy bear, dog's collar, and lamp are all golden yellow. Maybe I'm reading too much into the pictures, but it seems that some of the brightest parts of the child's life are represented by the brightest parts of the pictures. The illustrator (Beth Krommes) has illustrated several award-winning books.
The story is written in the fashion of "This is the house that Jack built...". The author notes that she was inspired by a nursery rhyme by Iona and Peter Opie that begins..."This is the key of the kingdom: / In that kingdom is a city, / In that city is a town, / In that town there is a street...". She has written many books and has won several awards for her works.
I do like this book, but I'm not sure that it is a great deal better than several other books for children that I have seen. Sometimes the award winning books are not ones that I would personally choose to read again and again. This story could be used to illustrate the idea that books can take you anywhere you want to go; they free you from the confines of your own house in the night.
Swanson, S. M. (2008). The house in the night. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Winner of the Caldecott Medal
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