HOME, SWEET HOME

Treehouses, apartment buildings with rooftop beehives, tents, houseboats: All are homes.

Starting with a scene that pictures many houses found throughout the book and ending with the same scene, now filled with people from many places, this volume will help kids think about similarities and differences in living arrangements. Each double-page spread features a different topic. First there are spreads on homes in urban places versus country living; roofs (steep ones for snowy countries, green roofs, flat roofs); doors, like the special orange wooden doors of Mongolian gers and the absence of them in North African or Bedouin tents; and the issue of walls or no walls. Then, there is a focus on the various different spaces in- or outside homes. Each spread features amusingly detailed paintings with different layouts, some complete scenes: The dining-space spread features a Western-style table and diners from different countries and eras adjacent to a Vietnamese family eating on a bamboo mat. Another spread contrasts four gardens: Bangladeshi floating gardens, the White House lawn, a Japanese garden path, and the “Vertical Forest,” in Milan. The people are diverse, cartoonish in style but with individual personalities. The book does not discuss homelessness, and everyone looks happy with their own situation. There are neither sources nor bibliography.

Children will find many answers to the question: “So what makes a home a wonderful place?” (Informational picture book. 6-9)