"A Little House in a Big Place" - a bookwrap

Unwrapping

 "A Little House in a Big Place" 

by Alison Acheson

Illustrated by Valériane LeBlond

* Age Range:  5-6

* Grade Level: PS-2

* Hardcover: 32 pages

* Publisher: Kids Can Press

* Pub. Date: May 7, 2019

* Language: English 

 The germ for this story came on a two hour train ride during Book Week 2012. The author wrote a list of all the wonderful moments and images from the trip, and even while still en route, knew she wanted to write a train story. She spent the next few months actively “listening” and watching for pieces for the story…and they came. (Ah, there may be some covert message not to leave projects to last minute, and to develop mindfulness…)

Unwrapping some illustrations for you to enjoy

Unravelling the book

Every day a little girl stands at her window and waves at the engineer of a train as it whizzes by her house.  Her little house in a little town is right smack dab in the middle of a big place so this is daily entertainment for her.  Faithfully,  every day, the kind engineer responds with a wave back.  His wave and her wave together make a home in her heart. ( I love that sentence - best one in the book!) 

The speed of the train, the wonderment of where it might be going and its destination as it returns peeks the little girl's curiosity.  She wonders if perhaps one day in the future she can ride a train and travel far far away too.   

This free verse picture book unveils the special connection between the two.  It also offers a wonderful opportunity for discussion that begs to uncover the mystery that surrounds that train as it travels to and fro along the endless tracks. 

Kids will relate because most have waved at the driver of a huge truck, a streamlined bus, or even waved skyward at an airplane zooming overhead.  They are delighted when the truck driver blasts his horn or the bus driver simply smiles and waves hello.  The talented illustrator enriches the text by showing wide open spaces and long views of the train as it passes by the little girl's window.  The reader can experience visually the vastness and emptiness that surrounds the child.   This book opens up a great opportunity to discuss and learn about different styles of poetry and subjects.  I highly recommend the book.   

Storywraps Rating - 5 HUGS!!!!!

Meet the author

Alison lives in the East Side of Vancouver, in a little house with a wood stove (which is good for writing on rainy days). She shares the house with her youngest son, who likes to sing—her in-house Sinatra—and she likes to listen to all types of music, and dance, and she plays the saxophone for fun.

As a kid, she homeschooled and read books. Piles and piles of books. She tried to stack them high enough to build a house, but it was too hard to make a roof, and where she grew up, it rains too much not to have a roof.

Her tenth book—a picturebook, titled A Little House in a Big Place—will be released by Kids Can Press in spring 2019. She has published nine books for young people, from picturebooks to work for teens, and all ages between, fiction as well as a nonfiction piece for Pearson Educational working with mental health for grades 4-6. She has taught in the UBC Creative Writing program off and on since 1998.

The germ for A Little House was borne during her trip to Ontario for…yes, Book Week 2012, when she travelled by train between Toronto and the amazing little town of St. Mary’s, an early evening jaunt with golden setting sun and long shadows. So Book Week has a special place in her heart, representing a time of sharing and regeneration.

About the illustrator

I am a French and Quebecker artist who has lived in Wales since 2007. I was brought up in Angers, France, and followed my Welsh partner to his beautiful country after graduating in literature in Nantes. We live in an old farmhouse near Aberystwyth with our three sons, several cats and too many chickens.

I have a little studio at home where I paint while listening to French radio and sipping posh tea. In winter the wood-burner is lit and I have a cat or two purring by my side. In summer I struggle to stay indoors and paint more during the evening.

My artworks often deal with the idea of belonging, how people inhabit the land, what makes the place they call home. Most of my works have details and sub-stories that you may notice if you look longer. I love reading novels and I wanted to be a writer when I was a child. There is a narrative aspect in my paintings, and I often have to write down what I have in mind before I start to paint it.

I also illustrate picture books, which is a great way of combining my two passions, books and painting.

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