Whose House is This? Find the Hidden Surprises

by Caryl Koelling, Carol Wynne

Board book with "door" flaps to show animals inside their homes.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Lorellie]

Gorgeous vintage illustrations. Tot and I are both delighted.

[Katie]

This book leaves us with an unsolved mystery. Who lives in the mushroom house? I suspect it’s mouse but ownership of the property is never confirmed. Dwelling appears to be inhabited based on the chimney smoke. Will conduct further due diligence by searching Zillow and checking the property tax rolls. If the owner is indeed mouse, he made a very smart move investing in this waterfront property in 1979.

[Amy]

A bear lives in a hollow log all winter and a lion lives in a cave in the mountains... some odd habitat matches here, though the book is cute.

[Mort's Kids]

Bears hibernate in logs? This is legitimately a surprise to me, if true.

[Nathalie]

This is the first book I ever read myself. I remember opening it and the letters finally making sense. I ran through the house screaming "I can read! I can read!"

[Johanna Florez]

When I saw the rabbits hanging a painting in their hutch I almost cried 🥹 also "scenery" and "greenery" make a terrific rhyme

[Cullen Howard]

Summary: "Whose House Is This?" questions and answers which animals might live in various types of dwellings.

Characteristics That Support the Genre: Illustrations and hidden surprises are combined with rhyming text to portray the book's message. The answer to each question is illustrated behind interactive doors for the reader to open.

Mentor Writing Traits: (1) Sentence Fluency – The call-and-response text of the book flows and rhymes like poetry, and reflects the same pattern from page to page. (2) Presentation - The book's illustrations are of high-quality, and the interactive doors make the book more entertaining and aid in reading the text.

Classroom Integration: “Whose House Is This?" could provide a good mentor text for lesson plans focused on rhyming, poetry, or word families. Alternatively, the book could also be used as a guide to promote creative literature presentation.

Other Suggestions: I would suggest this book as being appropriate for readers in approximately first grade. As an additional idea for integration in the classroom, this book could be used as an introduction to a science lesson focused on animals and their environment.

[Holly Lindquist]

This is the first book I ever read so I may be biased. I liked it so much I took it everywhere with me, even lost it under the backyard hedge for a month (got it back relatively undamaged other than general fading). Anyway, the animal houses are inventive and in the case of the squirrel's apartment, surprisingly posh. Cute book.

[Siskiyou-Suzy]

This was such a cute little book -- I made flaps for the ones that were missing, as I bought it at a thrift store. I've since re-donated it though; I can't remember exactly why but I'm sure my homemade flaps were part of it. I try to fix things but usually end up hating my efforts, and I probably got tired of looking at my coloring job.

[Steph]

I feel like a huge part of my life is in this book. It's an adorable, short pop up book. It's childish now, but it's still cute and a classic.