I loved the art in this story of kids exploring an abandoned house and imagining the lives of the people that had lived there before.

This is a book obtained from the local library. I like it so much that I will buy a copy to prominently display on my shelf of favorite illustrated books!

Two children discover an abandoned house while walking through the woods. This is a precious book, beginning with the phrase

"Deep in the woods
is a house
just a house
that once was
but now isn't
a home."

An incredible book that leaves the mind wandering throughout the journey with the young girl and boy. Their imaginations take them to the difference between a house and a home. As they see the leaning house, they note how much it is aging. The blue paint is peeled, the path is winding and the door is barely creaking open. Stuck in time the house invites the children to enter an unknown journey.

There are no intact windows, but air can softly enter the broken glass, and the children can have two points of entry -- a door, a window and the wonderment of what will be found inside.

Who lived there? Who ate the food? Who fell asleep in the living room on the chair? Were the inhabitants happy? Did they sing? Did they play? Did they read the books still left on the shelves? Does the house miss those who lived there?

Does the house have a life? Can it remember the sound of the Laugher? The Tears? The Joy? The Sadness?

As the children leave the woods and return to their own home, are they aware of the imprints they leave on their walls, in these halls? And, someday will another boy and girl visit their home and ponder about the memories the walls contain?

There once was a house deep in the woods
and, this house led to a journey of wonderment,
and the difference between what was, and what is. ( )

Imagination inducing. ( )

Beautifully written and beautifully illustrated, this picture-book, is one that successfully evokes that feeling of childhood, of exploring a mysterious world that echoes with the sounds and shadows of those who came before.

Poetic. A boy and girl (brother and sister?) find a house in the woods, "a house / that once was / but now isn't / a home." The children wander around and through the house, imagining its old inhabitants and former condition, before returning to their own home.

Two different techniques were used for the illustration: for "present day" scenes, India Ink on vellum, pressed onto watercolor paper; colors were added with oil paint over gesso and scanned and added digitally. For "imagined" scenes, oil paint on hot press board, scanned and combined digitally with paper collage elements.

See also: House Held Up By Trees by Ted Kooser and Jon Klassen. ( )