The Little, Little House

by Jessica Souhami

Joseph and his family feel squashed in their little, little house, with just a yard for the chickens and a small green patch for the goat and cow, so Joseph goes to his Aunty Bella for help. She tells him to bring the chickens into the house. Result - chaos. But when Joseph goes back to Aunty Bella, she smiles and tells him to bring in the rooster... then the cow... then the goat, until the little, little house is a dirty, smelly barnyard bursting out of its walls! Only when Joseph follows Aunty Bella's final piece of advice does he discover what a clever woman she is, and learns to count his blessings. Jessica Souhami's hilarious retelling of a delightful nursery tale has bright, bold collage illustrations and a fun text, perfect for reading aloud.

Genres: Picture Books, Jewish, Folk Tales

32 pages, Paperback

First published June 17, 2005

About the author

Jessica Souhami studied at the Central School of Art and Design which was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England.

In 1980 she formed Mme Souhami and Co, a travelling puppet company using colourful shadow puppets with a musical accompaniment and a storyteller. Her illustrations, like her puppets, use brilliant colour and bold shapes and her characters leap and swoop across the spreads.

In October 2008 Jessica Souhami, along with other well know illustrators, contributed an artwork which was used in the film, We Are All Born Free. Amnesty International hosted a special launch event for this universal declaration of human rights.

Her many titles for Frances Lincoln Publishers are ‘Sausages!’, ‘In the Dark, Dark Wood’, ‘Baba Yaga and the Stolen Baby’, ‘The Leopard’s Drum’, ‘No Dinner!’, ‘Rama and the Demon King’, ‘The Famous Adventures of a Bird Brained Hen’, ‘The Little, Little House’, ‘Mrs McCool and the Giant Cuchulainn’ and ‘King Pom’ and ‘Foxy’.

Jessica lives in North London.

Reviews

[Allyson Goose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my kindergartener's favorite books! It's a silly book about how sometimes it takes things getting harder to make you realize how lucky you were before. There are funny details in the illustrations if you look closely, like the interactions between the chickens and the baby. We'll be reading this many more times, I'm sure.

[Shoshanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute retelling of a story I have maybe already read a picture book of, but this time the rebbe is a wise lady! I love the silliness of the illustrations, especially all the stuff the chickens do in the house!

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fable worthy tale of appreciating what you already have. Bravo Aunty Bella, may your wisdom always prevail.

[Gil-or (readingbooksinisrael) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice retelling of a nice story. The pictures were fun, except for one thing which annoyed me, personally.

[Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Common sense of a lesson yet humorous and inevitable!

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever story about perspective and gratitude, this one was a hit. When we finished, Jordan said, "Mommy, I liked that story."

[Zonia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teaches about being glad for waht you have.