How big does a home need to be? When Henry decides to build a cabin for himself in the woods, he gets some help and a lot of advice from his friends. But Henry has his own ideas, and he sets about building his house as a bird builds its nest. As he adds everything he thinks his cabin needs, Henry’s new home ends up being a lot bigger than it looks! This is a thoughtful and beautiful meditation on what a home can be as inspired by the life of Henry David Thoreau.

A bear, modeled on a young Henry Thoreau, appears frugal to his friends as he sets about building a cabin. Includes biographical information about Thoreau.

Good book for teaching main idea and theme. Main idea - Henry the bear builds a one-room cabin. His friends tell him it is not big enough, but it is perfect for him. Theme - Simplicity. Author's message - Sometimes simple is better. Check author's website for an online game of constructing a house. ( )

"Henry Builds a Cabin" and "Henry Hikes to Fitchburg" could be used in high school English classes to get students thinking about how we can adapt important authors or works of literature for a young audience. You might have students think about what animal they would use to represent a character from a novel and what this choice says about that character. After analyzing these books, students could create their own children's books based on a novel, essay, or author. ( )

This book is about a bear named Henry. Henry the bear works hard day and night to build his one bedroom dream house. The main idea of the story is that simple living is good living, and that bigger is not always better. I'm chosing to read this book aloud to show the students a new way of thinking. We live in a society that is so consumed with material things and how others portray them. It is a valueable lesson to teach children early on that life is not about "stuff", its about the person inside each of us.