Building Our House Summary

Building Our House by Jonathan Bean
According to the Boston Globe Horn Book Award website, the winning titles must be published in the United States. The awards are chosen by an independent panel of three judges who are annually appointed by the Editor of the Horn Book. The books are recognized in the categories of fiction/poetry, picture books, and nonfiction literature.
In Building Our House, Bean creates an engaging story as well as a look into a warm family setting. A little girl narrates, and her childlike voice provides a mirror as well as some humor for the adult reader. For example, it is humorous when the child says, “When Mom and Dad are busy, I show the crew where things go.” There is a great sense of unity in the book because the text and illustrations clearly go together. The girl’s narration of the process of building a home matches the actions and the tools used to build the home. There is also a blue print on one of the pages, which gives the reader a full perspective of what the goal is of the family in the story, which is to build their home. It is also important that the illustrations highlight what the text is saying. The concept of building a home is very complex. For example, a child may
In society, many people believe that doing construction or working with tools or heavy machinery is a “manly” job. These types of activities are thought to be too dangerous for women in society. However, this book completely contradicts that idea. The little girl and her mother work just as hard as the father and the brother in building their new home. They are all equally involved and it does not matter who is female and who is male; everyone is working together to build the home. At every step of building their home, the entire family gets their hands dirty. The pages are filled with machines, vehicles, and many other tools and activities that are very eye catching for the