The House that Baba Built

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This story follows the interesting story of a childhood in China. The illustrations in this story are a mixture of drawings and photographs pieced together. Almost every page of this story includes a pull out page that provides a larger illustration in key aspects of the story. Readers will see how children in Shanghai grew up and how they spent their time.

The theme in this story centers around regional literature. Readers will see the specifics of this region from someone who grew up in this area. Readers can see how in this area and time what was important to families, and what was important in this culture.

A great companion story to this book is DRAWING FROM MEMORY, which is also reviewed on this blog. This book also follows the story follows the story of a young artist in an Asian culture, but this time in Japan. Students could compare and contrast the similarities and differences between these two stories as well as the cultures the two artists grew up in.


This book was reviewed by School Library Journal, an excerpt of the review follows:

Young's father builds a house for his growing family and for others who join them. Against the background of World War II, the author shares childhood memories of changing seasons, raising silkworms, and picnicking by the pool. This oversize book with foldout pages is illustrated with photos, drawings, and collage. Includes a timeline and a diagram of the house.α(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.

Citation

Young, E. (2011). The house that baba built. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group USA.