Building Our House by Jonathan Bean (review)

All but the most rabid adult DIY fans will shudder at the idea of building a house in their spare time, but children who follow the stages in this remarkable enterprise will think it’s a fabulous idea. The young daughter of the featured parents supplies the matter-of-fact narration, explaining how the trailer for their temporary housing is pulled near the site, water and electricity are hooked up, and the work of collecting stones for the foundation and staking out the footprint begins. Winter rudely intervenes, but warm weather means the foundation can be excavated and lined, lumber measured and trimmed, and a frame raising party hosted for family and neighbors. The installation of an old fashioned stove keeps the work proceeding apace during one more winter and the family is in their newly completed home by springtime. The narrator, who considers herself integral to the success of the project, explains each step carefully, but as the audience takes in the wonderfully detailed, often humorous cartoon-styled pictures, they see what her words don’t describe as well as what they do. Stating “My brother helps Dad carry the tools” doesn’t quite capture the fact that the little guy “holds” the hammer while Dad holds him, nor does she mention that while Mom and Dad toil and sweat, she and her brother splash in a wading pool. Bean includes a note about his own parents’ experience in house building, and although he admits he has only “vague memories of ladders and a cement mixer,” he certainly will impel a few eager listeners to ask, “Can’t we do that too?”