Starred Review ALA Booklist (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2002)

Starred Review The team that produces the Cobble Street Cousins series, brings to life the varied and delightful world of houses, while also remaining cognizant of all a home represents. The oversize book begins with a captivating two-page spread showing a checkerboard of places people live: castles, huts, and the John Hancock Center. Anyone who has seen Halperin's drawings of rooms knows that they are like a dollhouse come alive. This is particularly true here as they detail the inside and outside of dwellings: a front porch decorated for Christmas, a cluttered living room, a kitchen so chockfull of happy moments, dear mementos, and delicious treats that it takes panels along the top and the bottom of the page to show them all. As the text describes what such concrete things as a refrigerator and a bubbly bathtub mean, it strives toward the lyrical, and sometimes makes it. But this is really all about the artwork. Halperin's pictures can be looked at over and over and over again, and children still won't see everything. Nor will they want to; they'll savor returning to this cornucopia of the familiar and its warm message.

Horn Book (Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2001)

Various topics are covered on two- or three-page spreads, with brief introductory text and detailed captions for each of the numerous maps, pictures, and photographs. The book design is crowded, but the information will fascinate young readers. One noteworthy feature is the small scroll on each page containing a primary source quote related to the topic. Ind.

Kirkus Reviews (Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2002)

<p>The warmth and reassurance of home are put in very concrete terms in this pleasing offering from the creators of the Cobble Stone Cousins series. From the front porch, which is loveliest at Christmas, to the living room, where "that is exactly what people do," to the kitchen "that reminds people to look after each other," this is a paean to the comforts of home. The bathroom, from its dinosaur sponge to its scented emollients, and the attic full of stuff, are not neglected, either. Rylant is up to her usual offhand lyricism, although she uses the old-fashioned (and off-putting) "he" as a generic: "Ask anyone to name his favorite place in a house and he will almost always say the kitchen." Halperin's detailed illustrations are full of things sure to be in someone's house somewhere: the sea-green refrigerator, the sugar bowl with the loons painted on it, a beautiful multicolored teapot. This is a house full of pets and children; stuffed animals are everywhere, a collection of marionettes hangs from the walls, and there are mobiles and toys and lovingly delineated furniture. What there isn't, interestingly enough, is any indication of television, telephones, stereo systems, or computers. Could be very cozy indeed for reading aloud and poring over. (Picture book. 4-8)</p>

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In an oversize yet cozy-looking picture book, Rylant and Halperin explore the components of a home that could easily serve as a setting for this pair's Cobble Street Cousins series. Rylant quickly gets to the heart of her subject: "No matter the kind of house, it is the living inside that makes it wonderful." From there, she conducts readers onto the front porch, over the threshold and into various rooms. In the living room, "there is usually a big sofa," and maybe a fireplace in front of which "husbands and wives who have been married a long time will… spend the evening reading or sewing or simply being quiet together." The kitchen is "the room that reminds people to look after each other." And bedrooms "shelter us from the world like no other rooms can." While the author speaks thoughtfully and in general terms about the feelings that rooms conjure for many people, the illustrator focuses on one particular multigenerational family and the colorful lives they lead in their comfortably cluttered house. Halperin's watercolors—sometimes featuring multiple snapshot-like scenes of the same room on one page—brim with idiosyncratic details suggestive of the inhabitants' personalities. Even when the text approaches preciousness ("The smell of cookies makes every person as nice as he can be"), the note of welcome sounds clearly. Readers will want to linger here. All ages. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(May)

School Library Journal (Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2002)

PreS-K Describing the individual rooms in a house, Rylant moves from porch to attic, stopping by the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms in between. In a quiet, warm mood, the narrative delineates the gestures and activities of a multigenerational household. Halperin brings a multitude of details to life using a pastel palette of gold, green, peach, and rose. Attractive spot art picks up one item from a room, such as a hanging basket from the porch or a teapot from the kitchen, as a visual clue for readers. The love of reading is apparentbooks appear throughout the dwelling. This title is similar to Daniele Bour's The House from Morning to Night (Kane/Miller, 1998), which chronicles each hour of the day. Because there will be something new to discover in the art with subsequent readings, children will repeatedly choose this book for one-on-one sharing. Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA