Module 3: The Little House

Image from http://www.landofnod.com/authors-(a---i)/toys-gifts/1

Summary:
A little house was built by a man who had all the intentions to use it for many generations to come.  Throughout the book, the little house describes the night and day along with the seasons that came and gone.  Things changed when a road was being built in front of the house and slowly the trucks and cars are  constantly driving by the house.  Then more buildings were made around the house, elevated train was going by, and subways were there.  That caused a lot of traffic and pollution which for the little house it was not the same.  During that time, there was no one living in the little house and looked unnoticed and abandoned.  The little house needed a new coat of paint, the windows were broken, the shutters cracked but the house was still good to live in.  One day the great great great granddaughter of the person that build the house decided to move the house back in the country side and live in it.  She made sure everything was replaced an painted the house.  The little house was happy to be at her new spot.

Reviews:

Preschool-Gr. 2. This classic story of a house built in the country, and the city that grows out to meet it, won the 1943 Caldecott Medal. In the beginning, the little house sits atop a hill surrounded by apple trees, whose blossoms signal the coming of spring. The city is only a faint glow far away. But as time passes, more signs of the city appear: a road bringing carriages, then trucks, tall buildings, stores, and bright lights that obscure the nighttime sky. When the family living there moves, the little house is abandoned, until someone rescues it by returning it to the country.


Goss, G.  (2001, June). The little house.  [Review of the book The little house, by V. Burton]. Book Links, 10(6), 40.  Retrieved from www.booklistonline.com/booklinks.

Impressions:

This is a story that makes you think about how an object would feel if they went through emotions.  I enjoyed the fact that one was encountering and seeing what the house was seeing and feeling.  I also liked the way the words seemed to form the shape of a path.  The words seemed as if they were part of the illustrations.

Suggestions:

While reading the story, students have a piece of paper, pencil, and crayons to draw what is read to them. Students can have the opportunity to create their own version of the little house and changes to the surroundings the house goes through.  It can motivate them to listen and think about it as well.

Bibliography:
Burton, V. (1942).  The little house.  New York, N Y: Houghton Mifflin Co.