My House Is Singing

Children's Literature

A young girl celebrates the comfort and joy of her home in this collection of poems. She pictures her house as one giant hug wrapping itself around her. She rejoices in the heater that keeps her warm and the tempting smells from the kitchen. Young readers will identify with the magnetic scrapbook on the refrigerator, the sock eating dryer, and the annoyance of the ringing telephone. The noise of the vacuum cleaner, the worn out welcome mat, the crowded garage, the dining expanding and contracting room table, and the couch that turns into a bed are among the items that are praised. The large, colorful illustrations are an integral part of the meaning of the poems. In some cases, the words only hint at the item being described while the pictures show what it is. A comfortable book for introducing the genre of poetry through subjects that are familiar. 2004, Harcourt, Ages 3 to 7.
—Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-A collection of short poems about what's in a child's house. Subjects include the piano, the laundry room, a door that is stuck, etc. The accompanying illustrations are done with watercolors and an effective stamping or woodblock technique. Some of the selections are in rhyme, while others are in free verse; they vary in quality. "My Hideaway" introduces the idea of a place where one can be alone: "And just behind that my-size door/there is a place where I can store/my rocks, my bugs, my diamond rings,/and lots of other private things." "My Bedroom Slippers," which depends on common and static images, is less successful: "They lie/beside my bed,/waiting/for my icy toes/to wake them up." Nevertheless, the book is acceptable as a supplemental purchase. David L. Harrison's Alligator in the Closet (Boyds Mills, 2003) and Dee Lillegard's Wake Up, House! (Knopf, 2000) both have a similar theme.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

In a set of poetic observations written with a child's voice and sensibility, Rosenthal celebrates a house's nooks and crannies, furnishings, noises, decorations, and general coziness. Caldecott Honor-winner Chodos-Irvine captures the writer's ruminative tone with blocky, semi-abstract prints, done in vibrant colors and depicting a child of indeterminate race posed comfortably in pleasantly untidy domestic settings. The poems share a theme, but vary in form-and also mood, from a tongue-in-cheek inventory of "The Stuff Place" ("I've heard that garages / are built for cars. / There's never been room / for one in ours") to frustration at a stuck back door, plus shaped observations of a "Tired Light Bulb," and a trail of "Ants!" in the kitchen. A confident debut for Rosenthal, and a strong follow-up for a talented award-winner. (Picture book/poetry. 6-9)