A House in the Woods
Posted on: November 26, 2011
A House in the Woods by Inga Moore. (2011). Pages not numbered. Candlewick Press. Grades P-3.
A House in the Woods is a fresh and beautiful picture book that will become a classic. The gentle story tells about two Little Pigs that each make themselves a home in the woods. One little pig made a den and the other a hut. Then the two Little Pigs “went out walking together.” But when they came home they found that a big Bear has moved into the den and a huge Moose has taken over the hut. Neither Little Pig minds because they liked the Bear and the Moose. However, the Pigs’ homes were wrecked and they had “nowhere to live – not to mention Moose and Bear. This was a pickle. It really was.” Moose came up with a brilliant solution to their problem. They will build a big house that will shelter them all. Since they can’t do it on their own – “… Moose called the Beavers on the telephone . . .” Soon a team of Beaver Builders come to help them. The Beavers, complete with hard hats, arrive in trucks filled with building supplies. The Beavers request that they “be paid in peanut-butter sandwiches.” This charming story shows all the stages as the Beavers built the house. The final pictures show the four friends gathered around their new fire place telling stories and then fast asleep in their new beds. Moore’s softly colored lush illustrations make this a book to savor over every small detail of the woodland setting, the rapport between the friends and the enterprising, hard working Beavers.
Marilyn Carpenter, PhD.
