Whose house is this? by Chihiro Takeuchi

Each new page offers a different house in this fabulous neighbourhood, and turning the page reveals what is inside this house, to the delight and amusement of the readers. They will follow Paul as he walks through his streets, visiting all his friends and gathering them together along the way. From the house on wheels, to Olive’s cloud house and Sam’s bubble house, each is as different as they can be from the other. Eyes will search the double pages, finding lots of interest and fun. And pondering whether these observations are imagined or real.

First house on Paul’s walk is Lucy’s cat house. From the outside the house looks like a cat and inside are ten cats to be found before Paul moves to the next house with Lucy. Georgina’s house looks like an iced cake, and turning the page readers will be delighted to find that Georgina’s dad is a chef, so this house reflects his baking and readers will not be surprised to see the children sitting at the table to sample some of his work. Molly’s tree house will attract lots of interest as readers imagine themselves shinning from the branches.

Each page is wonderfully different, and the audience will be amazed that these detailed and stunning illustrations are created from paper cutting, a Japanese art called kirigami.

Several YouTube sites show this art work.

Each page of Takeuchi’s work forces the reader to take time to look at what is happening and think about its creation. Students will be excited to look at her other books which include Whose bones?, All in a day and Whose dinosaur bones?, to study the artistry behind the images.

Each page of this book shows how fascinating difference is, and the book encourages acceptance of difference and diversity, as it shows a range of people and places, designed to throw children’s expectations a little off course. Imaginative and playful, readers will love taking another look at houses around the neighbourhood, imagining the people who may live there.

I love the cloud house, with the children having a bubble bath, needing umbrellas against the inclement weather and hanging the washing in the attic, rainbows appearing in the distance. A subtle and endearing trio of pages.

Themes: Imagination, Housing, Adventure, Play, Humour.

Fran Knight