Mrs. Murphy's Marvelous Mansion

by Emma Perry Roberts, Robert Rogalski (Illustrator)

Mrs. Murphy's snobbish neighbors see her peculiar home as a blemish in their otherwise perfect neighborhood. It looks so small they wonder how anyone could even move around inside. When THE VERY FINEST NEIGHBORHOOD CONTEST is announced, they are certain they will not win with her odd little house situated right in the middle of the block. It's barely bigger than a cracker box! says Mr. Gold. It should be torn down! shouts Mr. Brown. But the neighbors are in for a great surprise when Mrs. Murphy invites them over for lunch. As they wander in astonishment through the Marvelous Mansion, each learns the error of making judgments based on outward appearances. Robert Rogalski's outrageous artwork flows perfectly with Emma Roberts' endearing story. Children will ask for this book again and again.

Hardcover

First published August 1, 2006

Reviews

[Kristen Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for teaching students about not judging based on outside appearance. Mrs. Murphy lives in a tiny and kind of odd looking house right int he middle of the cul-de-sac. The neighbors want to enter the "Very Finest Neighborhood" contest but are afraid that Mrs. Murphy's house will ruin it for them. They tell her her house is ugly and she invites them over for lunch the next day to see. Inside her house is beautiful, spacious, and elegant. The neighbors realize that judging Mrs. Murphy's house from the outside was not fair.This idea of judging could be a problem with young children when they see people who look or act differently than they do. This book emphasizes and illustrates that outside appearance is not as important and inside appearance.