*New House, New Home by Megan Saben

Lively text and pictures show what it takes to make a New House, New Home—by our own Megan Saben! (And scroll down for a special offer!)

*New House, New Home by Megan Saben, illustrated by Liz and Kate Pope. Familius, 2024, 24 pages

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 0-4

Recommended for: ages 2-6

Let’s build our house!/ The hole is deep./ Foundation laid,/ the walls are steep.  

A brother and sister are anticipating a big move into a new home—but this one hasn’t even been built yet! And it’s a complicated business with lots of prep work. A strong foundation comes first, followed by a framing of 2×4’s. At that, the kids are ready to pack up their bedrooms, but “Oh no my dear, it’s much too soon.” And indeed it is. So much of what goes into a house is never even seen once the building is completed: the ductwork, the wiring, the plumbing. While all that behind-the-scenes work is going on, winter comes and goes, spring rains begin, and seedlings sprout in the yard. The kids build their own constructions out of blocks and paper and marble-maze pieces while waiting and waiting. But at last it’s moving day, which happens to coincide with someone’s birthday. What a gift!

Megan Saben writes from the experience of watching her family’s own “new house” under construction. Not every reader will have had that joy and frustration, but both those emotions come through in the rhyming text and colorful, childlike illustrations. It takes a lot of work to make a house a home, and this book will help even the youngest readers appreciate the efforts of builders, plumbers, and electricians. Observation questions and activities on the last page will help kids get even more out of the book.

Bottom Line: A cheerful exploration of building and bonding over new home construction.

SPECIAL OFFER: Order New House, New Home directly from the author and get a signed copy with stickers and bookmarks AND free shipping on orders of $30 or more! Details here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

Reviews: Picture books about houses and house-building include Farmhouse, House Finds a Home, and Build a House.

Review: Houses with a Story (starred review) combined imaginative houses with invitations to imaginative story-telling.