Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Topic: Houses & Homes

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Picturebook

A pitch perfect picture book with breathtakingly beautiful, textured illustrations and a heartwarming story from author-illustrator, Jonny Lambert.When Bear moves into a new home in the woods, his home feels empty, and Bear is a little bit lonely. With a RAT-A-TAT-TAT! on his neighbour’s door, Bear quickly finds a warm smile and friendship with Hare. When a storm CRASHES through the wood, destroying Bear’s home, the two friends discover that home is more than just a house . . . it’s where the heart is.

Our Tower

Joseph Coelho & Richard Johnson

Picturebook

Our Tower tells the story of three children living in a tower block. Viewing their environment as “concrete and grey”, they decide to seek out the glimpse of green they can see high up from their window.

Finding the tree they have longed to see reveals a secret world of magic. Tumbling deep inside, they find “a world deeper than anything Our Tower has ever seen.” But the most significant discovery is the tree-grown man living within, who opens their eyes to the true magic. With his words, the children see that magic is everywhere, including in their tower. A tower full of love and community.

This is a beautiful story inspired by author Joseph Coelho’s own experience of growing up in a tower block. The new Children’s Laureate brilliantly illustrates the diversity and the incredible sense of community that living in a tower block provides, showing how they are more magical than the boring, hard and grey high-rise flats that dominate urban skylines. The tale brings a message about urbanisation, where there’s a perceived distinction between countryside and urban spaces, yet this reminds us that nature is all around us, wherever we live, and everyone should have access to it.

Every page is a feast for the eyes with stunning and sumptuous illustrations by Richard Johnson. The colours perfectly reflect the mood of the poetic narrative, changing from dull greys to magical purples to vibrant, magical technicolour.

As always, the talent of Joseph Coelho’s writing expertly combines writing in verse and poetry with inspiring rich vocabulary.

The Comet

Joe Todd Stanton

Picturebook

From the award-winning Joe Todd-Stanton, comes an exquisite and heartfelt picture book touching on the bewildering experience of moving house. This beautiful story explores how this can affect a child’s sense of belonging, but also how it can open them up to new and wonderful experiences.

When Nyla has to leave her home in the countryside to start life again in the city, all she can think about is everything she misses from before. So when a comet comes crashing through the city streets and starts to glow and grow, Nyla can’t resist a chance to head somewhere that feels closer to what she had before. But what starts as an escape could be just the thing to make her finally feel at home.

A Place Called Home: Look Inside Houses Around the World

Kate Baker & Lonely Planet Kids

Non-fiction

Take a sneak peek inside homes from all around the world with this charming lift-the-flap book, written by Kate Baker and beautifully illustrated by Rebecca Green. From cosy wooden houses in snow-blanketed Greenland to traditional Maasai mud huts in East Africa, young children will discover different ways of living across the globe and get a unique glimpse into diverse cultures and communities.

Home: Where Our Story Begins

Britta Teckentrup & Patricia Hegarty

Picturebook

Wherever we may choose to roam, We need a place to call our home. Follow a little bear as he discovers a host of animal homes and more in this beautiful die-cut picture book that explores what home looks like for different kinds of creatures.

Brick: Who Found Herself in Architecture

Joshua David Stein

Picturebook

A young brick goes on a journey to find her place in the world by visiting ten celebrated brick structures around the globe. Brick’s observations begin at home and then extend globally as she travels to a diverse list of brick structures – Malbork Castle in Poland, Mahabodhi Buddhist Temple in India, Grosvenor Estate apartments in England, and more – all the while pondering where she may end up. With a tender and timeless text by Joshua David Stein and architectural line art by Julia Rothman, this tribute to becoming part of something greater serves children and adults alike.

Houses and Homes Topic Booklist

Houses and Homes Topic Booklist

There’s no place like home! Houses and homes come in all shapes and sizes, from caravans and houseboats to apartments and cabins. Whether you are looking at cities, towns or villages, our selection of recommended children’s books about houses and homes will help primary school children to build the best foundations for understanding the topic.

Step Inside Homes Through History

Goldie Hawk & Sarah Gibb

Non-fiction, Picturebook

This is a charming laser-cut book designed to explore houses and homes in different periods of British history.

The chronological guide begins in the Late Middle Ages and travels through seven different eras, finishing at present day. Fold-out sections and intricate laser-cut flaps allow little hands to open up the houses, peek through windows and observe different family members engaging in activities in and around the home. Broader topics such as clothes, food and architecture are considered and how priorities and lifestyles change over time is gently drawn out across the different sections.

The houses depict a snapshot of upper-middle-class life, but provide more of a vehicle for considering key changes in attitudes, activities and fashions of each area rather than a close representation of everyday life. The present-day house, for example, is an eco-house complete with flat-pack furniture, triple-glazed windows and smart technology powered by rooftop solar panels. Jump back 100 years in time and you’ll find a 1920s suburban redbrick three-storey house with William Morris wallpaper, jazz on the gramophone and a smartly dressed couple on their way to the pictures to see a silent movie.

Each snippet of information builds on past eras and adds to a picture of societal change over time. The book flows excellently as a start-to-finish read but also has plenty of potential to zoom in to just one particular era or to follow a single thread throughout (learning how bathrooms evolved from a hole in the wall to a chamber pot to modern-day ensuite will always entertain young children). This book will be enjoyed in KS1 classrooms and help pupils explore historical causality and change when covering the Houses and Homes topic.

The House That Jack Built

Diana Mayo

Picturebook

A brightly illustrated rhyming story with a repeated structure that children will not be able to resist joining in with and learning by heart.

That Pesky Rat

Lauren Child

Picturebook

This is a hilarious picture book from the popular author Lauren Child. It follows the story of a brown rat that lives in the garbage bin but stares through the windows of the houses at night, longing for a real home of his own.

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