mary Ann Hoberman | Reading With Rhythm

Most people and critters have some kind of house that protects them from the elements and may provide comfort or storage area or a place to raise young ones.

I live in a people house. A house that was built for humans. But My People have made room for me and Walker inside their house. When I was a pup, I had a different house inside the people house. I slept in a crate that was just for me. It was a safe, cozy little house. It was a place where my gorilla waited for me and my warm blanket. It was a place that I could go to be alone if I wanted. Walker still sleeps in his own crate. He likes it there a lot.

Most dogs that I know have these same living arrangements, but I hear of dogs who sleep outside in a dog house. The kids I visit at school always want to know about my living and sleeping arrangements. When they see the Mom Person without me, they worry about where I am and whether I’m inside or outside.

Houses are an interesting concept for me. I like my house a lot, but I sometimes wonder about other houses and how they came to be. We have just built a new house for our chickens and a lot of planning went into this building. The goats and Buddy, the pony share a house. I always wonder where the raccoons and skunks and foxes live that I smell in the woods.

I have a book that addresses this issue —

A House is a House for Me
written by Mary Ann Hoberman
illustrated by Betty Fraser
published by Viking in 1978

Theme — housing, animal dwellings, nature, environment

Suitable for 3 and up

It begins —

“A hill is a house for an ant, an ant.
A hive is a house for a bee.
A hole is a house for a mole or a mouse
And a house is a house for me!”

This is a fun, fun book told in sing-song rhyme about houses. Houses of all kinds. From the ant and the bee to farm animals and a dog in a dog house. From fish in the sea to a snail in its shell to a duchess in her castle. Then on to a garage for a car and a pod for a pea!! What can you think of that has a house? That’s the big question! And one that this book begs you to ponder! It’s a book full of wonder! A book that encourages you to wonder about the world around you that is OUR home.

The illustrations are fabulous. Each page is chock full of details to wander through as you wonder. This is a book that will have you meandering through it time and time again.

This is a book to spur the imagination. What kind of house could your kids build at home themselves – one just for them? I know at our house there have been houses made from giant boxes, tents made from sheets, and forts made from tree branches.

Take your kids on a walk through the yard or the woods. What kind of houses can they find? Birds’ nests? Spider webs? Holes in the ground? A shell that might house a snail? or a nut? An endlessness of possibilities!!

Enchanted Learning has a great site with all kinds of classroom activities about dwellings of all kinds. Lots of fun stuff can also be found on Pinterest

To encourage kids to think about the world we live in and how to take care of it, visit the USDA website and find out about Woodsy Owl.

For more fabulous picture books and accompanying resources visit Susanna Hill and her list of Perfect Picture Books!

Now because it’s Library Lovers Month, I would like to direct you to a library program in India called APNE Library that is spreading the joy of reading across the Himalayas. You can find out all about it HERE.

And here is a video of a group from APNE Library performing A House is a House for Me –