The New Kevin Henkes

I'm a little bit obsessed with the new Henkes picture book ("A House"), which is like a sonnet.

There are four short "scenes" about a house.

Where are the doors? Where are the windows?

Where is the sun? Where are the birds?

Where is the moon? The stars?

Where are the clouds? The puddles?

In the fifth scene, snow falls--and this nice surprise causes a change in the rhythm:

SO MUCH SNOW! Where is THE HOUSE----?

Then, a coda. Pets begin to arrive, and people.

What are they doing? They are COMING HOME.

I love that you're looking for patterns even if the search is in your subconscious mind. And I like how Henkes effortlessly takes on the voice of a child. ("So much snow!" "Look! Here comes a dog....")

You can bet my son has heard all this a bit more than he might like.....

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