The Orange House

By Author / Illustrator

Nahid Kazemi

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

Publisher

Tiny Owl Publishing Ltd

ISBN

9781910328118

Format

Hardback

Published

01-01-2016

Synopsis

The small Orange House stands at the end of the alley, feeling sad and left out as all the nearby tall buildings admire another new building being built. Her old stone stairs and pipes are no match for the new building's elevator and brand new pipes that they say will never burst. Feeling she has no place in the world any more, the Orange House finds surprising new friends as the workmen advance towards her with their shovels and picks.

Reviews

The orange house is a book about destruction, change and appreciation. It is about a house, the only one left of its kind, standing dejected and alone as all around new buildings take the place of where buildings like him once stood. Slowly through conversation the new buildings begin to understand how the orange house feels and a mutual appreciation for each house's circumstances develop. This book teaches us the power of dialogue and the ability to stand in someone else's shoes as being a way forward. That together, a way of preserving the old and embracing the new can exists in harmony. Children will find this book a useful story when comparing old and new. They could compare their own houses and that of the local environment, whilst showing awareness of how careful consideration and empathy needs to be applied if the old is to be preserved and not destroyed in the quest for newness and change. Picture book / Ages 5+ / Reviewed by Louise Gahan, teacher.