Living a Faith-Filled Life

I can see why The House in the Night, written by Susan Marie Swanson and illustrated by Beth Krommes, won the Caldecott this year. I've got to admit that sometimes the art that wins the Caldecott just isn't my style. But this - This I can appreciate. The illustrations are scratch art with yellow highlights. I remember when I had to do an art project where you color your paper with bright crayons, then cover it with black crayon or paint. Then, we had to scratch a design into it.  Oh, I loved that! I'd do it on my own, just for fun (and make quite a mess!)

Obviously Beth Krommes has gone way beyond elementary school scratchings. The art is exquisite, with a bit of a folksy or whimsical feel. It's not as "chunky" as folk art, but not as cutesy as whimsical things I've seen - It's something in between.  Okay - I'm really not a trained art critic, so you can feel free to disagree.

The story itself is simple. It flows nicely. It's a story you wouldn't mind reading to your child at nighttime for several nights in a row. And, it has the feeling of The House that Jack Built. Something about the rhythm and flow. Short bits of text on each page take you through the story, though you spend much more time looking at the illustrations.

Classroom connection:  Share this book with your class, and ask them how they think the illustrations were done.  Then, present them with their own scratch art (it's cheap and fun if you order from Oriental Trading.)