The Little House

Infobox Book
name = The Little House


image_caption = Front cover illustration
author = Virginia Lee Burton
illustrator = Virginia Lee Burton
cover_artist = Virginia Lee Burton
country = United States
genre = Children's picture book
publisher = Houghton Mifflin
release_date = 1942
media_type = Hardback
pages = 40
isbn = ISBN 0-395-18156-9

"The Little House" is the title of a 1942 book written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton.

Inspiration

Author Virginia Lee Burton has stated that "The Little House was based on our own little house which we moved from the street into "a field of daisies with apple trees growing around."cite web | last = | first = | title = Books by Virginia Lee Burton| work = Houghton Mifflin | date = 2006-01-01| url = http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/mike_mulligan/books.shtml| accessdate = 2006-09-16 ] Burton denied it was a critique of urban sprawl, but instead wished to convey the passage of time to younger readers. Being a very visually driven book, many times Burton changed the amount of text to fit the illustration. "If the page is well drawn and finely designed, the child reader will acquire a sense of good design which will lead to an appreciation of beauty and the development of good taste. Primitive man thought in pictures, not in words, and this visual conception is far more fundamental than its sophisticated translation into verbal modes of thought." [cite journal| last = Burton | first =Virginia Lee | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Making Picture Books| journal =Horn Book Magazine | volume = 19 | issue =4 | pages =228–232 | publisher = | date =1943-07-01 | url =http://www.recess.ufl.edu/transcripts/2006/0202.shtml | doi = | id = | accessdate = 2006-09-16 ]

tory

The plot deals with a city, which expands and expands and expands until it surrounds a former country house. Then, the great-great granddaughter of the builder of the house, now grown up, remembers the house, and moves it into what has become the country.

Adaptations

The book was also made into a 1952 animated short by the Walt Disney Company. [cite web | last = | first = | title = The Little House (1952)| work = IMDB.com | date = 2006-01-01| url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044841/#comment| accessdate = 2006-09-16 ] It has also been released as an audio book.cite web | last = | first = | title = Books by Virginia Lee Burton| work = Houghton Mifflin | date = 2006-01-01| url = http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/mike_mulligan/books.shtml| accessdate = 2006-09-16 ]

Critical reception

The book has been noted for its insights on urban sprawl. It won the 1943 Caldecott Medal. [cite web | last = Goss| first = Gail | title = The Little House Meets Urban Sprawl| work = American Library Association | date = 2001-07-01| url = http://www.ala.org/ala/booklinksbucket/urbansprawl.htm| accessdate = 2006-09-16 ] It was identified as one of the top 100 best books for children by the National Education Association. [cite web | last = | first =| title = 100 Best Books for Children| work = TeachersFirst.com | date = 2006-01-01| url = http://www.teachersfirst.com/100books.htm| accessdate = 2006-11-22 ]
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References