Houses with a Story by Seiji Yoshida - ADVISABLE

Houses with a Story: A Dragon's Den, a Ghostly Mansion, a Library of Lost Books and 30 More Amazing Places to Explore by Seiji Yoshida (translated from Japanese by Jan Mitsuko Cash,) 124 pages. Abrams/Amulet, 2023 (originally published in 2000 in Japan) $25.

Content: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Senji Yoshida is an illustrator. He has always imagined the houses in the stories he's read and wanted to create illustrated houses that could be in these stories. 30 different houses are represented, with a short single-paragraph story starter a character who lives there, and something about what makes the house special. Then, the illustration itself is a cutaway (ala David Macaulay) with labels for the things we might miss or which need to be explained and a blueprint-type drawing of the layout. 

I really loved Houses with a Story! The stories themselves were intriguing, I wanted to imagine a story that would happen in the house. Except for the House of the Seven Dwarves, none of them seemed to be connected to actual stories. Includes dragons, ogres, a clocksmith, orphans, ghosts and so much more. Special pages teach about different roofs, toilets, and a glimpse into the artist's studio. A fun book that can be opened to any page and feed the reader's imagination. Most of the characters are Japanese 

Lisa Librarian