If I Built a House

“If I Built a House” Written and Illustrated by Chris Van Dusen. The overall theme of the story is your overall imagination and creativity. Throughout the story, the main character Jack creates in his head what he would want his house to look like and what he would want to include on the inside if he got to design a house. Things like a racetrack, flying room, water-filled room, art room, big slide, and having a bedroom 200 ft in the air. Jack creates this vision with all of these elements included within this house of his if he were to ever create one. His imagination is through the roof when designing the type of house, he would want to live in. The illustrations throughout the story really bring Jacks vision to life by showing show more all the different rooms in Jacks house that he created in his mind. The illustrations really help the readers and audience understand what Jacks envision would look like if the house were to come to life. I think this book is good for children to read because it shows what children can do and create by using their imagination. It also inspires children to use their imagination to create all different kinds of things. show less

I found Chris Van Duson by way of the Mercy series, which he illustrates, and he's quickly jumped to the top of my youngest daughters daily book choice pile. She absolutely loves this book....and I agree! The imaginative world Duson has created here, feels like Meet the Robinsons in living color, if you will. His beautiful illustration style makes this already cute and fun story, even better. I highly recommend this for any child with a big imagination.

Chris Van Dusen is absolutely my favorite illustrator. I think. I don't know. I just know that I find his books super engaging, colorful, and humorous. in "If I Built A House," our imaginations soar with what someone's dream house would be.

There is a water room. A Race track room. A kitchen that does all of the dishes via a robot. You name it. This house has it. I loved asking my storytime kids what they would put in their houses!

I love the imagination this book brings to life. The colors in the illustrations are bright and eye catching. The expression on the boy’s face is lighting up a room and the reader can see the joy and excitement he has to show someone the house he made. Looking at the picture, a young reader would probably agree he/she would want the same contraptions in their house. This book allows the reader to use their imagination and let their thoughts roam free about a house they would want to live in.

The language is very easy to understand because the story is being told through the point of view of the child. The boy makes up some of his own words for his inventions which may confuse the readers, but looking at the illustrations that show more stretches over both pages will be enough clarification. For example a scrub-a-dub-dub is a machine that has a brush that washes him in the shower. The book is very futuristic which may appeal to some readers.

The book had a rhyming pattern throughout. Every page there are rhymes, even if they rhyme with the made up words the little boy uses. Rhyming shows the students there is a pattern and thought out the book I began to guess what he was going to rhyme the previous line with. This gives the book a poetic feel. The back cover and the front cover have his design plans for the house. This gives the reader a preview of the house before they begin to read. This may also inspire the reader to draw their own plans and let their imagination run free. Maybe they could describe their house using rhyming words. show less

I really enjoyed reading this book. I really enjoyed reading this book because of the imagination the boy had when he was talking about what he would do if he built a house. If I were reading this as a kid I would totally be engaged and be jealous of what the boy was saying he would do if he built a house. The house he was describing seemed like a dream house. Overall, this book, the pictures and the storyline were very well done.

Recommended Ages: Gr. 1-3

Plot Summary: A boy is playing with legos, tinker toys, and lincoln logs imagining what kind of house he would build. He included some changes to the basic rooms, such as adding a robotic machine to the kitchen that will prepare all of the food and clean up, trampolines leading to a ball pit in the family room, and a conveyor belt shower similar to a car wash. But he also imagines adding new rooms to the house, such as a art room with a giant pad of paper coming from the ceiling, an empty room with no gravity, a racetrack room with go-karts, a giant fish tank, and a room that turns into a spaceship.

Setting: suburb

Characters:
Boy
Mom

Recurring Themes: Rhyme, house, home, imagination, dreaming, blueprints, show more architecture

Controversial Issues: He's in the shower but the water is covering his private parts.

Personal Thoughts: Creative, fun, and imaginative. Would be fun to extend and ask the kids what kind of room they would want or how they would change a room in their house.

Genre: Fantasy

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Illustrations: Colorful, bright, full page, humor show less

My son and I love this book. It was fun and the illustrations were wonderful.