The House in the Night

The House in the Night

By Susan Marie Swanson, Pictures by Beth Krommes

5/5 *****

I loved this book and I think that kids would really enjoy it too.  It is a poem that ends up coming full circle by the end.  It is very simple, with only a short phrase on each page, for example: “Here is the key to the house. (New page) In the house burns a light.”  It would be very easy for beginning readers to read, especially because each new page is a continuation of the last page, so there are lots of words that are repeated.  The general poetic style is also the same throughout, which is great for beginning readers.

 

Something really unique about this book are the pictures.  The book is all black and white watercolors and scratchboard drawings.  Since the book is highlighting certain small parts of the book, for example “Here is the KEY to the house” the key is in yellow in the pictures to contrast the rest of the black and white.  This pattern continues throughout the book, another great thing for beginning readers who sometimes use the pictures to figure out what the words are saying.  Yellow eventually represents yellow, and the story tells about what is going on in the night.