By Sophie Blackall
Little, Brown and Company, 2022
Picture book, 48 pages, ages 4+
Over a hill, at the end of a road, by a glittering stream that twists and turns, stands a house…
So begins this story of a farmhouse, where a family of 12 children were raised, where they grew up and moved away, where the youngest baby lived until she was an old woman, and until the house was finally abandoned, only to be found by an artist who wonders what life in the farmhouse was like.
A detailed collage of the life of a house, lovingly told.
Sophie Blackall, who won the Caldecott Medal for Finding Winning and Hello Lighthouse, poured her heart into this story based on a real life family that once lived in a farmhouse on her property, long since abandoned and left to become a home for wild critters. Her love for the house is evident in every word and brushstroke.
The mixed media collage illustrations are exquisite and highly detailed, quintessentially Blackall. If the reader looks closely, they’ll find scraps of wallpaper, snippets of cloth, and other things that were salvaged from the actual farmhouse. The illustrations are composed in a way that feels like you’re looking inside a diorama, getting a sneak peek into lives lived long ago.
Will kids like this book? While this is a quieter, lyrical book, kids young and old will be drawn to the detail and the story. Many kids have said that they love this book, and I’m sure many more will.
Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall receives 5 stars from this reviewer.