pick#NewYearNewYou Day 19: This book is a quiet reminder of #lost portraits, the pregnant hush upon seeing objects that were loved once but now discarded, the wonder of discovering fragments and pieces of a life that once was, but isn‘t any longer. My review: https://wp.me/pDlzr-iUu
pickThe illustrations are stunning in this melancholy little book. It is about what makes a house a home, and what a house is once it has been left behind by its occupants. Beautiful, but a bit blue.
pickTwo children explore an abandoned house and wonder about its former occupants. It took me a couple of read-throughs to get the rhythm of Fogliano‘s poetry, and I was disconcerted when Lane Smith‘s artwork changed in style on the pages that portray an imagined past. Those things reflect my own shortcomings, and in the end I can see the deep appeal of this sophisticated children‘s #picturebook. It‘s the kind of book that rewards multiple readings.
Inside the house
it is silent but creaking.
We‘re whispering mostly
but not really speaking.
We whisper though no one would mind if we didn‘t.
The someone who once was
is someone who isn‘t.
The someone who once was
is gone.
Lane Smith‘s illustrations in this #picturebook are so unusual and I couldn‘t figure out how he made them. His explanation: “…made with India ink, drawn on vellum with a crow quill pen, then pressed while wet onto watercolour paper creating a blotted line effect. The colours were painted in oil over gesso then scanned and added digitally under the ink line.” Additional techniques were used on other pages.
pickLoved this picture book about Beluga bones found in Vermont in the 1800s.
Beautiful illustrations in this book about a house and what makes it a home as well as the stories and memories, hopes and dreams, all the possibilities that linger long after the home is once again a house. A delightful book.
A House That Once Was | 
