The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Fogliano, Julie

A House That Once Was

48 pp. | Roaring Brook | May, 2018 | Trade ISBN 978-1-62672-314-6 $18.99

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Lane Smith. "Deep in the woods / is a house / just a house / that once was / but now isn't / a home." So begins (and later concludes) Fogliano's poetic, read-aloud-perfect tale of a mysterious abandoned house discovered by two children. Items left inside spark their imaginations about the ramshackle structure’s past occupants. Smith effectively uses different but complementary mixed-media illustration styles to distinguish present-day scenes from imagined ones.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018