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Building Our House

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Building Our House

by Jonathan Bean
Farrar Straus Giroux, 2013.  Unpaged.  Picture Book

     Jonathan Bean draws (in more ways than one) a story from his own childhood with this lovely and fascinating book about a family who build their own home from the (below) ground up in a farmer's weedy field, far off the main track. The family lives on-site in a small trailer which has been plumbed and wired for electricity, and Dad keeps his day job, working on the house on weekends and in the evenings.  Everyone helps:  Grandpa digs the cellar with his backhoe; friends and extended family join to raise the frame. Work is slowed by a longer, colder winter than expected, but never stopped. In the end, the family (with a new baby!) moves into the home that is truly theirs.  A beautiful book, suitable for all ages.


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