The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson

 

Title: The House in the Night 

Genre: Fiction, Poetry 

Author: Susan Marie Swanson 

Illustrator: Beth Krommes  

Major Awards: Caldecott Medal Book 

Age group: Baby to 3 years old 

 

Summary: 

This picture book by Susan Marie Swanson is a nighttime book that illuminates things all throughout the book such as a key, a bed, a book, a light, and the moon. The tone of the book is supposed to be soothing and calming to create a relaxing mood for the child reading the book. There’s a pattern all throughout the book from the items that were used and at the end of the story, it ends where the book started, with the house and the key.

Evaluation: 

Appropriate grade levels would be Preschool and Kindergarten. 

I loved the way the illustrations actually made these items “illuminate” and show how they illuminate at night. I honestly felt the coziness this book was trying to display because of the calming choice of words and the dark images with the illuminating aspects. I wouldn’t personally use this book in my classroom, unless I was teaching Preschool and they still do nap times. I would definitely use it for whenever I have children and use it for bedtime stories.