A Very Special House

• Title: A Very Special House
• Author: Ruth Krauss
• Illustrator: Maurice Sendak
• Publisher: Harper & Row Publishers
• Publication year: 1953
• Brief Summary: From Amazon-“A boy’s imagination also comes to the fore in A Very Special House (1953) by Krauss, as the artist depicts the hero creating a home filled with a turtle, a giant, a very old lion and “some monkeys and some skunkeys.” Oversize pages brim with the creatures as well as his house’s “very special” furnishings.”
• Ideas for using this book in classroom or library – I think this book would be great for younger children. There is a lot of repetition and rhyme in this book which I believe would be ideal for children just beginning to read and write. For example, the part where MORE MORE MORE is repeated for a whole paragraph.
• Whatever additional notes you’d like to add about this book and why you liked or didn’t like it – I think the black line drawings that show the creatures and wonderings of the little boy’s imaginings would appeal to children. Even though this was published in 1953, I think this book could still be useful for today for encouraging imagination in children is still imperative.