Buzz Words

The Moving House by Bingbo, illustrated by Huangying (Starfish Bay Children’s Books)

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 9780994100252

Reviewed by Leigh Roswen

The Moving House, by Bingbo is a picture book about a squirrel who decides to move out from his tree hollow. He finds a few good spots to build his new house, but alas, these are occupied by other animals. Finally, Squirrel decides to settle on a lovely smooth rock. To his surprise the location of his house keeps changing from the sea to the mountains and finally the middle of a lake! What is this rock that squirrel has built on?

This is an innocent and gentle story which is suitable to read to 2-6 year olds. The repetition of certain phrases, will help this age group readily familiarise themselves with the text:

This is a nice place to build my new house! I think I’ll live here.

The blurb says, ‘The Moving House’ gives an interesting take on the stressful activity of moving house. But it is too fanciful to be of any therapeutic value in that regard. This is not a criticism – there should be books that a purely fun.

Bright and simple watercolor illustrations by Huangying compliment the story. Different illustration layouts add a beautiful variety to the book. There are entire double and single page spreads as well as smaller pictures of squirrel against the white page.

This is a fun and pleasant book with a delightful twist at the end which I imagine children will enjoy even on repeat readings.

Reviewer website: www.leighroswen.com