Farmhouse

This book is pure magic! The artwork is unlike anything I’ve ever seen and brings a level of whimsy and intimacy beyond compare. The words and images bring the story to life. As a person who dreams of owning a farmhouse like this someday, this book was the perfect treat! My children soaked it up and so did I.

An absolutely beautiful book sure to make you reminisce on the importance of family and the idea of home! The author draws on the true story of an abandoned home she found and the stories she imagined and later researched happening there. I especially love that she used textiles in the book from the house itself. 10/10!

Sophie Blackall hits it out of the park with this stunning new picture book. As she explains in her author's note in the back matter, this book was inspired by a real place and real people. The amount of work she went to to learn about the history of the people and house is astounding. The photographs included with the author's note provide a fascinating glimpse into the work that she did. As for the book itself, the poetic text shares with readers what life was like for those who lived in the farmhouse. The family she presents had 12 children and a working farm. This family comes through as a real life family with conflict, chores, and challenges. While the text is lovely and would be great for reading aloud, it's the pictures that truly blew me away. The incredible detail makes each spread well worth studying. The layering she used in her illustrations includes bits and pieces from the old house itself, making the reader feel as if they are holding a piece of the house in their hands. The intricate combination of paint and collage makes for illustrations that feel like they have real depth. I loved the way Blackall integrated her own journey into the story, showing the way that a place can touch many long after it's gone. I shall be very surprised if this book doesn't win awards with it's precision and beauty.

I found this book on a list of new children's books recommendations and checked it out from my local library. I found it to be so special that I purchased a copy to read and keep for my 6 year old grandson. Blackhall has written a lovely book about an old farmhouse that is an actual abandoned and decrepit house she found on a farm that she bought. She combed the house and found many old treasures, some of which she kept and used as part of the illustrations/collages that she created to illustrate the book. The plot follows the house as it is a home to a family with twelve children as they grow up in the house, to the point where the two sisters remaining in the house decide to move to the sea and the house is overtaken by animals. The illustrations are so detailed, there is much to look at and point out to the little people you read this lovely book to.

I don't remember how I heard about this book, but so glad I did. Absolutely stunning illustrations. The story is beautiful, too, but the illustrations keep me coming back to this book overhand over. My grandson likes it, but I LOVE it.

Today I’m a homeschooling momma of 9, living in the birch woods of Alaska in a beautiful, modern home, but I spent my growing up years in a house this very book describes. In fact, if this house had been a Queen Anne house in southeast Iowa, I may think it was my childhood home built in 1889 by my great, great grandfather fresh off the boat (and then a train ride across the USA). My grandmother was born in that house and, 40 years later, when her husband and my grandfather (he was a police officer and they lived in a nearby town) developed a brain tumor, they moved the 7 of 13 children still at home and themselves back to the farm. Grandpa died there and a few years later, when my daddy got out of the military and we needed a place to live and grandma needed someone to farm the land, we moved there too. I grew up in that house with the fruit trees planted by my great grandfather and the barns build by my great great grandfather without the use of nails. The toys, furniture, and books left in the attic by generations previous were my playthings and friends. While the house in this may look different than my childhood home, this book holds my heart and memories in a way I’ve never before seen illustrated. Thank you Sophie Blackall for this book that brought me to tears. I had to read it to my children who will never see the home I grew up in, but have heard the stories and now have something they can look at which has made the stories come to life.

Beautiful illustrations, like peeking into a dollhouse. A sweet read-aloud.

This is a cute story about a farm house and the family that lives in it. My 3yr old niece thought it was a little unsettling when everyone moved out and the farmhouse got damaged due to weather..but aside from that, a decent book.

Everything about this book is gorgeous, from the lyrical poetry telling the story of a home full of children and love, to the artwork with the found images from the real farmhouse worked in. This book makes me think of the home my children are growing up in-- messy, busy, and full of love-- and wonder what will become of these walls once we've all moved on one day...

Beautiful book with wonderful meaning found throughout.