The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Johnson, D. B.

Henry Builds a Cabin

32 pp. | Houghton | March, 2002 | Trade ISBN 0-618-13201-5 $$15.00

(2) K-3 As in Henry Hikes to Fitchburg, Johnson shows why Thoreau is an American icon. He uses a well-known episode in Thoreau's life--his construction of a cabin near Walden Pond. The illustrations are geometric in feeling; the sturdiness of the designs is echoed in the sturdiness of the main character (depicted as a bear). A brief note focusing on the cabin, with a sidebar of Thoreau's cost and materials analysis, is appended.

Reviewer: Mary M. Burns | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2002