Pistes d'exploration

Discuss why the homeowners want to make their houses so big. What does having a big house represent to the homeowners? How do you think it makes them feel and why?

Use a T-chart to reflect: What are the advantages to having such a huge house? What are the disadvantages?

Write a letter to the neighbours. What would you tell them to do?

Use a T-chart graphic organizer to compare what the two neighbours add to their houses as the story progresses.

Discuss who wins the competition between the neighbours. What are the problems with having this type of home? What is the main problem in the story?

Write a letter to the neighbours. What would you tell them to do?

Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building, Storybook Homes

Mots-clés

Humour , Picture book , buildings , consumerism , greed , illustrations (ink) , neighbours , rivalries , wordless book

Commentaire descriptif

Without using words, the language in this striking and funny picture book uses description and small touches of dialogue to poke fun at people with more money than sense. The very tall book plays with empty page space, as two neighbours gradually build stately homes higher and higher into the sky. The fine lines of the pen illustrations depict details that children will pore over, such as workmen atop cranes, a grand piano, party guests, a tower that contains a “Library of rare and old books” and a “Wardrobe containing almost 6,000 suits.” Dialogue is mostly limited to orders, barked through the phone: “Let me speak with the President of the Republic!” Readers will enjoy seeing one house topple, while the neighbour can’t get a pizza delivered because he is so high up. Love and togetherness are emphasized in the final message—one that most children already deeply understand: while the neighbours are busy, a wild boar family makes off with the stray pizza, and they enjoy a picnic in the forest.