Farmhouse
- Downloads：6884
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-09-16 06:52:54
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Sophie Blackall
- ISBN：0316528943
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
This glorious new picture book from two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall is as lavish and moving a tribute to a storied， beloved place as Hello Lighthouse。
Over a hill， at the end of a road， by a glittering stream that twists and turns stands a farmhouse。
Step inside the dollhouse-like interior of Farmhouse and relish in the daily life of the family that lives there， rendered in impeccable， thrilling detail。 Based on a real family and an actual farmhouse where Sophie salvaged facts and artifacts for the making of this spectacular work， page after page bursts with luminous detail and joy。 Join the award-winning， best-selling Sophie Blackall as she takes readers on an enchanting visit to a farmhouse across time， to a place that echoes with stories。
Over a hill， at the end of a road， by a glittering stream that twists and turns stands a farmhouse。
Step inside the dollhouse-like interior of Farmhouse and relish in the daily life of the family that lives there， rendered in impeccable， thrilling detail。 Based on a real family and an actual farmhouse where Sophie salvaged facts and artifacts for the making of this spectacular work， page after page bursts with luminous detail and joy。 Join the award-winning， best-selling Sophie Blackall as she takes readers on an enchanting visit to a farmhouse across time， to a place that echoes with stories。
Reviews
Cara Frank
，
Can I give this book more than 5 stars？I've been waiting months for this book， and it's even better than I'd hoped。 It's so much more than a book， it's a gorgeous piece of art with a beautiful message。 Thank you， Ms。 Blackall， for sharing this gift with the world。 Fingers crossed for another Caldecott！！ Can I give this book more than 5 stars？I've been waiting months for this book， and it's even better than I'd hoped。 It's so much more than a book， it's a gorgeous piece of art with a beautiful message。 Thank you， Ms。 Blackall， for sharing this gift with the world。 Fingers crossed for another Caldecott！！ 。。。more
Earl
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Absolutely stunningstarting with the book itselfas a physical objectthe feel of the dustjacket and the surprise art underneatheven the smell of the pagesAnd then there's the story of the childrenof the family of the houseof the story， of the bookstories within storiesAnd the illustrationsand the so many detailsto delight one's eyeif one just takes the timeto look， to seeuntil another thingmakes itself seen。 Absolutely stunningstarting with the book itselfas a physical objectthe feel of the dustjacket and the surprise art underneatheven the smell of the pagesAnd then there's the story of the childrenof the family of the houseof the story， of the bookstories within storiesAnd the illustrationsand the so many detailsto delight one's eyeif one just takes the timeto look， to seeuntil another thingmakes itself seen。 。。。more
cindy
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My coworker shoved this into my hands while they were receiving a massive package of books and just said， "Read this。" I read it。 I loved it。 My coworker shoved this into my hands while they were receiving a massive package of books and just said， "Read this。" I read it。 I loved it。 。。。more
Deb
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This is such a lovely book。 Everything about it is special。 Although it's a "book for children"， I think adults can very much appreciate it's beautiful story and charming illustrations。 This is such a lovely book。 Everything about it is special。 Although it's a "book for children"， I think adults can very much appreciate it's beautiful story and charming illustrations。 。。。more
Irene
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As ilustrações de diferentes técnicas são lindas demais！ A sensação de estarmos explorando uma casa de bonecas。 Eu tive oportunidade de ler esse livro enquanto estava hospedada na fazenda que deu origem a história， então foi ainda mais especial。
Tracey Allen at Carpe Librum
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The impact time has on people， buildings and the environment is a constant theme in my reading， and Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall is based on the true story of a house the author discovered when she purchased an old farm。 The house was falling down and neglected， yet a family of twelve children had once been raised and lived within those walls。 Sophie Blackall was hooked and loved exploring the items and sorting the objects left behind to piece together their stories。Together with the fact that t The impact time has on people， buildings and the environment is a constant theme in my reading， and Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall is based on the true story of a house the author discovered when she purchased an old farm。 The house was falling down and neglected， yet a family of twelve children had once been raised and lived within those walls。 Sophie Blackall was hooked and loved exploring the items and sorting the objects left behind to piece together their stories。Together with the fact that this children's picture book includes a 'dollhouse-like interior'， I was eager to step inside Blackall's Farmhouse to learn about those who once lived there。Farmhouse is a tribute to this house and other unnamed and unknown homes and residences which have been abandoned or outlived their purpose and which have eventually been reduced to dust in the name of progress。Firstly， my favourite thing about this picture book are the end papers。 A montage of artwork and photographs of items and materials from the house that inspired the book， it's absolutely captivating。 It's like looking at a digital scrapbook of creativity， memories and the passage of time。 Look closer and the curtains around the windows are scraps of fabric， look again and you'll notice newspaper clippings， photographs and scraps of wallpaper。I was spending such a long time admiring the mixed media illustrations that when I turned a page and the text started mid sentence， it was disorienting。 The entire story is told without a single full stop and while I found this bothersome， perhaps it wouldn't have been so noticeable if I'd been reading it with a child at the intended pace。Also， I treasure and look after my books， however the dust jacket on my copy of Farmhouse is looking a little tired around the edges from minimal and careful handling， so I can't imagine how quickly this would begin to look tatty in the eager hands of little readers。 （I do wonder about the wisdom of dust jackets for children's picture books， so if you have an opinion on this let me know in the comments section below）。Illustrated by the author herself， Sophie Blackall was born and raised in Australia and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia （AM） for her significant service to children's literature。I enjoyed the story behind the story and finding out the content in Farmhouse was inspired by those who actually lived there - in the author's note at the back of the book - gave greater meaning to this charming little storybook。* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia * 。。。more
Lesley Burnap
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Simply gorgeous， with such incredible details！ This will be a book children （and adults） return to again and again and find something new each time。 💕 Be sure to read （and share with children） the author’s note。
Betsy
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The role of a physical home in a child’s life has provided fodder for thousands and thousands of picture books over the years。 There are those that are speculative， wondering what it would be like to live somewhere fantastical （like in Molly on the Moon）。 Some compare one type of home to another （Mirror by Jeannie Baker）。 For kids with housing security， they may identify keenly with those structures that have housed them。 So much so that there are ample picture books about the process of moving The role of a physical home in a child’s life has provided fodder for thousands and thousands of picture books over the years。 There are those that are speculative， wondering what it would be like to live somewhere fantastical （like in Molly on the Moon）。 Some compare one type of home to another （Mirror by Jeannie Baker）。 For kids with housing security， they may identify keenly with those structures that have housed them。 So much so that there are ample picture books about the process of moving from one home to another （my personal favorite being Bad Bye， Good Bye by Deborah Underwood）。 And some books consider the life of the physical structure of a home itself。 The most classic example of this is probably The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton。 In that book you don’t see much of the family that lived in the house， but you do see its slow decomposition over the years and the encroaching urbanization。 That is， until the happy ending where it’s taken away， fixed up， and given a new lease on life （odds are that encroaching urbanization is gonna start all over again， tho）。 Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall probably owes some of its existence to Burton’s classic title， though the heart of this book isn’t walls or floors or windows but the people that lived alongside them。 Speculation yields a carefully， even meticulously rendered story of an average white farm family， living life in a home， until time takes its toll and we all have to wrestle with what that means。Go down to the end of a road and you’ll find a farmhouse where twelve children live。 We watch them as they do their chores and get in trouble for painting the family cat。 We see their dreams， and watch the seasons change。 By the end， though， everyone grows up。 Even the baby， no longer young， who leaves the house last of all， goes to the sea with her sister。 The house’s door opens and in comes nature to take charge of everything inside。 Everything， that is， until Sophie Blackall arrives and finds the house in its dilapidated state。 So she takes things and cuts things and writes this book to remember the children that once lived here and the lives these walls once saw。 An Author’s Note at the end talks about the real house that Sophie bought and the treasures of the past she found both inside and outside。 As a child， I was fascinated by old places。 I’d poke around my grandmothers’ homes， in search of family secrets or treasure。 For me， the past left its echoes everywhere。 Every physical object could tell some kind of a story。 I don’t think I’m wrong in thinking that I would have adored Farmhouse。 I think much of that love would have been wrapped up in Blackall’s meticulous attention to detail。 You see， my favorite picture book growing up was A Time to Keep by Tasha Tudor， and there are more than a few similarities between this book and that one。 In both cases you follow a family in the past through the seasons。 You see all these details about the home that they live and grow up in。 The difference may lie a lot in the characterizations。 These kids all have very different personalities。 Personalities that kind of culminate in this fantastic moment near the end where you see a photograph of all twelve of them and can match them to glimpses of the occupations they held later in life。 I know for a fact that I would have spent inordinate amounts of time pairing each kid to their future self （and Blackall makes this a bit easier by offering visual clues， like the girl holding the kitten growing up to be a vet， for instance）。 Reading this book， though， you start to think about how kids attach emotionally to the physical structures that they inhabit。 So it’s just wild to me that Sophie chooses not to end the book， as all these other books have， with the house’s final restitution。 You don’t see the final destruction （much， I’m sure， to the chagrin of bulldozer loving kids everywhere） and that’s smart， but that still means that you leave the house in its dilapidated state。 This is such an interesting choice。 How easily Sophie could have gone the route seen in books like Ray’s The House of Grass and Sky and ended with some crowd pleasing denouement where the house is brought back to life。 It seems to me that both tonally and thematically， this book has much more in common with the Julie Fogliano/Lane Smith collaboration on A House That Once Was。 In both cases you’ve a house abandoned to the elements， containing traces of the family that once lived there。 In both cases that family is not coming back， and the narrator speculates on who they might have been and what their lives were like long ago。 For months before this book was published I took great pleasure in watching Sophie Blackall put the art together physically on Instagram。 In many ways， this book feels like a dollhouse for professional illustrators。 Years and years ago I visited the studio in Brooklyn that Sophie shared with a number of other artists， and in the corner was a little mini studio with models。 I think at the time there was some hope that Sophie would do a book with models as illustrations， ala Red Nose Studio， but nothing ever came of it。 Or maybe I shouldn’t say that， since this book is as close as one can come to paper as models。 It almost has a paper doll-like quality to it。 If you find those old videos， you can watch as Sophie puts together the attic bedroom that many of the children share。 It’s the physicality of the enterprise that really comes through to the reader。 There’s a kind of POP to the art。 We know that all art on a page is two-dimensional。 This book just gives an extra added layer of depth to the proceedings。 Notice too that you don’t get that feel with the landscape scenes。 This dimensionality is completely centered on the house itself。 So cool。 I always feel a little bad when I’m reviewing an author/illustrator and I hold off until the very end of the review to mention that they’re a helluva writer as well。 It’s tricky。 There's a perception that any old joe schmoe can write a picture book， but that it takes true talent to illustrate one。 But even the best artist in the world can only salvage poor writing to a certain extent。 And there is NO guarantee that an illustrator is going to be skilled with the written word。 I know plenty of Caldecott Award and Honor winners that have written and illustrated perfectly decent， perfectly meh books。 Farmhouse hasn’t even the barest whiff of “meh” about it， though。 I mean， talk about an opening sentence: “Over a hill， at the end of a road， by a glittering stream that twists and turns， stands a house。” From there we meet the family， come to love them， and then there’s a kind of vertigo that takes place when you go from one two-page spread where the youngest baby has a disease with spots， to that baby now an old woman， saying goodbye to the house for the last time。 We watch the home disintegrate and this isn’t treated as a bad thing。 It’s seen as natural， in its way。 The only crime would be to forget， and so the book gets a little meta on us。 We see Sophie herself working on this book， because homes aren’t immortal。 But books？ If they’re read and remembered， they’ll last longer。 As she says in the last sentence， the kids will， “live on， now， in this book that you hold， like your stories will， so long as they’re told。” Maybe that’s the thing about this book I like so much。 Picture books about old houses or old cars or other old structures view natural decomposition as something to be fought and fixed。 Farmhouse respectfully disagrees。 The tragedy at work here is that the stories that took place in this house might not get told again。 They might fade in the memories of the people who knew them。 So rather than refurbish and restore the house， Sophie refurbish and restores the family and their lives in book form。 And maybe there will be a child that reads this book and begins to wonder about old photographs in their own homes。 Maybe they’ll ask for stories about their own ancestors and， if they’re lucky， maybe they’ll hear some they never heard before。 We can’t help but wonder about the people who came before us。 Isn’t it nice when someone like Sophie Blackall is able to give them a little gift， in appreciation for coming before？ A lovely， moving， thoughtful book， full of children， life and death， and the turning of the years。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Farmhouse
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Farmhouse&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Farmhouse&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0