Constructing A Sanctuary

It began with a man who was first a carpenter.  He taught his daughter everything he knew about carpentry, materials, and tools.  She learned the proper way to hold a hammer so a nail would go in straight.  She learned the best time to use needle nose pliers, slip joint pliers and tongue and groove pliers.  She learned when to use certain kinds of screwdrivers and the appropriate kinds of screws for a variety of construction supplies.

This knowledge and the accompanying skills were invaluable when the daughter found herself helping to build her first home.  Regardless of her prior knowledge and experience in building that home, in reading the newest book written and illustrated by Maxwell Eaton III, Bear Builds A House (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, February 1, 2022), that daughter found herself comprehending the entire process on a deeper level.  This companion title to Bear Goes Sugaring is certain to be invaluable to most readers, whether they decide to build their own home or wish to have a greater understanding of what to seek in a well-built residence.

Spring has arrived, and Bear is on the move . . .

She's been caring for a friend's house, but now it's time

to build one of her own.  It will take thoughtful planning,

mountains of hard work, and a few good friends to get it

done before the snow falls again.  And it all starts now!

One of the first things Bear does is select the perfect site to satisfy her.  She needs to spend time there during all parts of the day and, if possible, during the seasons of a year.  After the place is selected, Bear designs a site plan, deciding the placement of all the parts of her home, and where new portions might be placed in the future.

Bear cleverly plans the inside and outside of her home, drawing blueprints complete with elevations.  Bear enlists the assistance of friends with specialized skills.  She knows when help is needed in getting lumber from logs, in digging holes (excavating), and in placing the plumbing and electrical lines.

Next, trees are chosen and harvested.  Boards are cut from the logs and then set aside to dry.  Bear and Woodchuck work on digging and setting the piers for her home's foundation.  (It is explained she could have a full foundation or a crawl space foundation instead.) Woodchuck and Bear continue to work in bringing water to the home from a nearby spring by digging and laying pipe.  They don't forget to plan for an outhouse.

Finally, the dried lumber is used to frame the house. Each step in the framing is explained until the 

''whetting bush'' 

is placed on the peak of the completed task.  Each layer on the sides and roof are carefully placed, including the windows and siding.  Thankfully they start on the interior as the weather is turning autumnal.  Plumbing and fuel lines are installed. Hooray for Bobcat's expertise!  

Raccoon has completed the necessary wiring for a 

photovoltaic system.

The sun is to be the source of electrical energy.  Inside, Bear places insulation between the studs, joists, and rafters.  She uses tongue-and-groove boards (instead of drywall) to finish the walls.  For the perfect look, trim board is placed along the bottom.  Cabinets are hung.  Appliances and the wood stove are delivered.  As the first snow falls, everyone enjoys the warmth they helped Bear to make.

Not only does the text display author Maxwell Eaton III's knowledge, but we are also aware of his keen sense of humor through his word choices and character commentary.  Bear's dog, a local squirrel, and a goose that elects to not fly south for the winter are hilarious.  In addition to the main narrative, there are carefully labeled elements during each portion of the building process.  Tools and supplies are presented and identified.  Here is a passage and some commentary.

On a double-page picture there are seven labeled characters who are important to the building of Bear's house.  Underneath their name it lists what they do.  This text refers to the three characters on the right side along with the narrative.

They are happy to help because Bear has helped

her friends many times in the past and will

continue to do so in the future.  That's the Better

Bear Bargain!  

Do they just

let anyone write

these books?    Bear's dog's comment

DOG

?

I'm a certified

tripping hazard.

SQUIRREL

Nuts

Hey, what

do you mean?

BEAR

Architect, Engineer,

Project Manager, Carpenter, Laborer

Are we

going to start building?

It's already

April!  Goose's comment

Bear's job will be to focus on planning, staying organized,

communicating, coordinating, scheduling, and working

alongside her friends.

In looking at the open and matching dust jacket and book case, we can see Bear is just about finished with the framing of her home.  Her comment is our first hint of the humor and wordplay used by Maxwell Eaton III.  The image on the front continues over the spine to the back and far-left edge.  The title text on the jacket is varnished.

On the back, to the left of the spine, Raccoon and Bobcat are carrying several pieces of lumber to the house.  Six geese are flying in front of a cloud, heading south for the winter.  On the far left a tall evergreen extends out of the frame.  A single crow rests on one of its branches.

On the opening and closing endpapers is a bright sky blue.  It is the same hue used in the banner holding Maxwell Eaton III's name on the jacket and case.  On the title page Bear is carrying lumber to the building site.  You can see stakes in the ground indicating where the house will be built.  An owl is perched on a tree branch nearby.  It's early spring with some snow still lingering on the ground.

The illustrations for this book were rendered

with watercolor and graphite pencil on 140lb. bright white cold press watercolor paper.

Each page turn reveals another double-page picture beginning with the verso and first page.  Maxwell Eaton III has placed the publication text and dedication initials within the boughs of a giant evergreen on the left.  On the right, Bear sits in her temporary housing as her dog sleeps on one of the cots.  The squirrel asks for another hour of sleep from its hammock on the outside.

The visuals in this book can be vast displays of the mountainous terrain with smaller images embedded in the larger illustration for clarity.  Or we might be close to the characters as they work on a special project.  Sometimes, we are looking straight at the scene and other times we are looking from above the action.  Maxwell Eaton III superbly uses panels for further explanation.  We are privy to the best kind of visual information through details.  The characters are highly animated.

One of my favorite illustrations is the final two-page picture, but I will let you enjoy every nuance yourselves.  I cannot look at it without laughing.  Another of my many favorite illustrations is when Bear is drawing up the site plan.  Along the bottom of the image, Bear, on the left, is seated outside at her table with her tools close at paw.  Her dog is standing next to her, head resting on her shoulder.  One paw is on her shoulder and the other paw is on her head.  On the right side of the table, the squirrel is asking about nut storage.  Goose still in the pond has wing tips resting on the table.  Goose thinks the plan looks good.  This is when the decision to not fly south is made.  The rest of the two-page picture is devoted to an enlargement of the site plan, providing a background for the characters.  I love this presentation and design!

This book, Bear Builds A House written and illustrated by Maxwell Eaton III, will find a wide audience of readers.  The blend of text and images coupled with the humor is marvelous.  You should plan on multiple copies as this is the kind of book that will be passed from reader to reader.  At the close of the book is an author's note giving a nod to responsible use of resources.  There is a list of three book titles for further reading.  I highly recommend this title for both your personal and professional collections.  I can already think of several people who will be receiving this title as a gift. 

To learn more about Maxwell Eaton III and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Maxwell Eaton III has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website are activity sheets you can download.  At the publisher's Instagram account, Maxwell Eaton III reads this book aloud.  At Penguin Random House, you can view the title page.

From The Ground Up...

When I was growing up my Dad who worked as a carpenter for years as his first job, made sure I had the fundamentals of hammer, nails, nuts, bolts, saw, pliers and wrench use down pat.  It came in handy when in 1976 after acquiring twenty acres of wooded property outside a city in northern Michigan, my husband and I found ourselves building our own home.  We each had our own chain saws to clear an area for the house; cutting down dozens of trees which provided heat in our wood stove for years.

A crew dug the basement and laid the foundation, drilled the well and put in the septic system.  We had hired a construction crew but when my husband found their work to be less than plumb, with the framing barely started, they were dismissed and we proceeded to finish the home ourselves.  We lived in a tent until it became too cold, then moved to one room in a motel.  Working at jobs and building a house with the remaining time each day is an experience I will never forget.  Looking back, I can't believe we did it.

For this reason (among others) after reading a post at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast about a new Jonathan Bean title, I knew I had to have it.  Building Our House (Farrar Straus Giroux) is written and illustrated to honor his family and is founded on his own parents building a house for their family.  As his parents painstakingly built the home step by step, Jonathan Bean builds this story picture by picture, word by word.


Today is moving day.  We left our old house in the city and are moving to the country.

Told in the voice of his older sister we follow the Bean family as their resourcefulness and spirit of self-sufficiency guide them on their adventure.  A field purchased from a farmer at the end of a dirt road is the site for a home they will build.  Tools, plans, Mom, Dad, a younger brother and a truck named Willys arrive ready to begin.

Essentials, running water and electricity, are first and foremost followed by the arrival of a small trailer.  The family of four will live in this small home on wheels while we build our new house.  Working together with the help of Willys materials are gathered; wood, rocks, sand and stone are piled about the field.

Grandpa provides the backhoe for digging the basement, the family builds forms for the foundation filling them with those collected items, then Mom measures and Dad cuts beams.  People, extended family, friends and neighbors, come for a frame-raising day and party.  Knowing winter is not far away as summer days grow cooler, the little family works harder than ever.

Siding, windows, floors, a door, roof, and chimney are pieced around the frame fashioned by many.  As snow and wind swirl outside, the house becomes more whole as the inside is filled with plumbing, electrical wires, insulation and walls shape rooms.  The seasons shift bringing a new addition and a very special day, moving day.  Family of five...house...home...contented, happy hearts...


There is no other way to describe the writing and illustrating of this book other than as a labor of love. The narrative voice is youthful, matter-of-fact but observant noting parental axioms and day-to-day details of the construction process.  Readers will notice the word choice, placement and pacing provide a certain soothing rhythm not unlike that of the house's changes through the months.  Here are a couple of selected sentences from one of my favorite parts.

On a clear, cold night Dad sets the corners of the foundation by the North Star.  One wall will face north to ward off the wind, one east to welcome the morning, one south to soak in the sun, and one west to see out the day.


From pencil sketches, to ink and watercolor, the pictures by Jonathan Bean are individual masterpieces, small captured moments in his family's life.  An identical jacket and cover feature a close-up of the building in progress on the front while the back shows the completed home in the early evening, lights in the windows.  Opening endpapers in tones of tan provide a vista of the countryside as it was before their arrival.  The same colors are used in the closing endpapers but the home, shed, gardens, laundry on a clothesline, a tree house and a foal with the horse in the farmer's field have been added to the original scene.

A heavier matte-finished paper adds to the warmth of the visuals which begin the story on the title page showing the family loading Willys up for the move into the country.  Some of the illustrations extend across two pages, edge to edge,  while others are smaller as the steps in the process are related; these having rounded edges as an invitation to the reader.  Still more pages are a series of pictures blended together as if links on a chain with the text woven among them.

With every viewing more details can be noticed; details adding to the life-affirming nature of the venture, a dream fulfilled through determination and love.  A cat appearing at their arrival is adopted and has kittens.  A tiny evergreen tree is placed on the peak of the roof after the frame-raising. During a rain storm Mom is holding an umbrella for Dad as his works on the roof; the children seeking shelter beneath the overturned wheel barrow.  Despite all the hub-bub a groundhog continues to build his home nearby as the months pass. It's these little things that contribute to this title's excellence.


Jonathan Bean in writing and illustrating Building Our House has invited readers into his past; a past filled with the best kind of memories, a cherished childhood.  This beautiful book in addition to being featured at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast (the array of artwork in various stages is a must see) is showcased at Kirkus and at The Horn Book here and here.  Make sure this title is on your must- purchase list.  You'll want to read it again and again.