Too Tall Houses by Gianna Marino - ESSENTIAL

Marino, Gianna  Too Tall Houses  Viking (Penguin), 2012.  $16.99  PICTURE BOOK  Content: G.  

Owl and Rabbit are two good friends who live next door to each other.  Their homes are the same size and they are happy doing their own thing: Rabbit tends to his garden, and Owl likes to keep an eye on the forest.  One day, Owl is angry because Rabbit’s crops have grown too high and he can no longer see his forest, so he decides to build his house taller.  Owl’s house is too tall and it effects Rabbit’s crops, so Rabbit decides to put his crops on top of his house after he builds it taller than Owl’s.  The two friends go back and forth until they have the two tallest houses in the world.  A stiff wind blows their houses over and they have to rely on each other to get safely down.  In the end they realize that they are happy they have each other and they build a house together.  

This is a great story about friendship.  Owl and Rabbit’s behavior is silly, making the point that sometimes arguments between friends can get out of hand, but in the end friendship is more important than anything else.  The illustrations are great and the simple text tells the story without getting too wordy and without losing the readers interest.  

EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.