Agnes's Place

by Marit Larsen, Jenny Løvlie (Illustrator), Kari Dickson (Translator)

Agnes knows she is at home before she even opens her eyes in the morning. The sounds and smells and people swirl around her—she always knows what everyone is up to in the tight-knit apartment building where she lives. But she also knows what it is like to be the only child in a place full of adults who never have time.

So when a little girl moves in to the building, Agnes is excited and sends her a subtle message. But the girl doesn’t respond. Then things start to change around Agnes’s place—and Agnes knows exactly who is to blame. It seems like the girl is interested in everyone except for Agnes!

Will Agnes and the new girl ever meet? And what secrets does the new girl hold? First published in Norway.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Friendship, Fiction, Contemporary

44 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Marit Larsen is a Norwegian songwriter and musician. Agnes's Place, her debut picture book, was first published in Norway and will also be published in Denmark and Italy. She currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

[Kristina]

What struck me most about this lovely book was how loneliness can creep into the most populated of places! Capturing perfectly the vibrant life of the city, Agnes knows every inch of her building. She longs for a friend her age and is thrilled when she sees a new girl move into the fifth floor. But friendship takes time and the magical ending is worth the wait.

[This Kooky Wildflower Loves a Little Tea and Books]

Colorful illustrations paint a story of a little girl discovering the neighborhood around her with its sounds and sights until one new girl moves in offering an additional interest. Short and sweet with perfect pacing for a children's' book.

4/5

[Ceecee]

Wonderful illustrations

The standout feature of the book is the stunning illustrations which I spent ages studying. Some particularly at the start have so much detail that you could spend a long time discussing them with a child. So colourful and creative. The storyline starts off quite sad but life for Agnes definitely improves. A lovely story of the importance of friendship and enriching your life through it.

[Suzy Davies]

A well-written book about a girl who is lonely. Another little girl moves into the neighbourhood, but their paths never cross, until one day they meet. It seems meant to be; the little girl's gloves match her friend's jumper. This shows children we tend to get on with folks who are similar and have the same tastes.

This book is a great read that depicts the excitement of anticipating a "first friendship" and teaches children the magic of joy to share.

The illustrations are playful and whimsical and capture the mood of the narrative.

I loved the ending of the story, which is a surprise. It suggests the friends enter a magical world of adventures together where anything seems possible.

The strength of this book is in its originality and how it teaches emotional truths. Children will relate to the characters in the story.

[DivaDiane SM]

Ah, friendship

This is a lovely picture book about a little girl who has lived in her neighborhood her whole life and knows its every detail. Then a new family moves into her building and they have a little girl too. Agnès longs to make friends with Anna, but something goes wrong and they never meet. Until they do and then the magic is wild and wondrous.

[Janet C-B]

I enjoyed reading this picture book.
It was a Prime first read and I was looking for something light as a break from more serious reading.
The reviews have been very strong, but I found something lacking. The story seems to end very abruptly. I read this book when I was tired and I might have missed some cues in the storyline. It is a translated book, and I might have missed something in the translation.
The illustrations are superb.
I may re-read this book. At 44 pages, it is a quick read and well worth spending more time looking at each of the illustrations.
Despite my 3 star rating, I would still recommend this book.

[Elizabeth]

Sweet story of making friends. Lovely, luminescent artwork. Free read with AZ prime

[Yaritza]

An adorable book about a new neighbor and the magical friendship they will have. Agnes was the only kid in the building she lived in and knew what all the adults did each day. A new girl arrives and she leaves her a picture to come join her by the swings, and the girl never comes. Agnes is hoping the girl will come be her friend but she thinks she doesn't want to. The girls finally meet and the magic begins of a strong bond of friendship, and magical adventures begin.

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا]

first childhood friend

This is a cute story with beautiful illustrations about a lonely young girl who sees everything around her but no one seems to see her, a new young girl moves to the same building but doesn’t seem to want to be her friend… until they meet at the right moment.

[Imke Wernicke]

Lovely

Imagination is wonderful . And finding a friend when you started to wonder whether you belong is always a plus.

[doreen wright]

Friendships

A darling story about the wonder of two little girls discovering friendship and imagination. Delightfully illustrated. Highly recommend this book.

[Ida Simone]

Denne boka har kvinnelig forfatter, kvinnelig illustratør, og har jenter i hovedkarakterene! Tegningene er helt nydelige, og fulle av morsomme detaljer, og fortellingen er kjempesøt. Anbefales!

[Katherine]

Wonderful story, charming colorful illustrations.

[Jae]

Beautifully illustrated book for children, about neighbourhood and friendship.

[Gaili Schoen]

Beautiful illustrations and engaging story. It’s about two shy girls who become neighbors and, after some trepidation, simpatico friends with a touch of magic and a lot of imagination. I love the detailed drawing on each page that one might explore and conjecture about with a child. I loved the ARC so much, I bought a copy of the book. Great children's books are such a treasure!

[Lara Green]

Power of friendship

I would recommend this book to children 4:7. It is a particularly good read for children living uin an appartment. The writing is engaging but i prefer rhyming books. It is particularly poiniant in lockdown where children may want to build rellationships through a window.

[Darlene]

Tackles problems with social development but awkwardly

I accidentally purchased this book as a prime free preview, but read it because I am an early childhood educator. I'm not sure what happened to the story between concept and print but perhaps it was over edited? Or tried to hard to show childhood thought processes? Or perhaps there are actual pages missing from my kindle version? The story seemed to leave parts of the plot hanging unresolved and unexplained. The child Agnes , is lacking social skills because she has always played alone, this is a very real problem children are facing in our current pandemic world. Unfortunately this story leaves too many inferences needing to be made by the reader. As a teacher I would need to heavily rely on stopping the story to ask questions of my class in order for them to understand that there was a problem in Agnes' social cues that led to her very real heart break and missed opportunities for finding friendship earlier. When Agnes finally meets Anna, the connection between the two (although beautiful and touching in concept) is too abstract for a child to naturally understand when reading. I have certainly seen strong child friendships formed over owning the same shirt but the reader can too easily miss the very figurative analogy of "the universe opening" it needed to plainly state that they were instant best friends.

Would I use this book in my classroom if it was given to me? Maybe, since it tackles a growing common problem in child development, but I could never leave it in a substitute lesson or to a guest reader, because too much work needs to be done by the reader to understand the objective.

[Melki]

Agnes lives in an apartment building that she knows like the back of her hand. But there's a problem . . . Agnes is surrounded by grownups. She is the "only child in a place full of adults who never have time."

One day, another little girl moves in, and Agnes is unsure of how to proceed with this strange, exotic creature.





As you can see, the illustrations by the aptly named Jenny Lovlie are indeed lovely, and really make the book special.

[Dee]

I hope this author and illustrator make more books together. This was a perfect book in so many ways, about loneliness and hope. The illustrations are exquisite!

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Read as part of my new "Settle back Sunday" initiative where I take advantage of access to children's books I can borrow and give back. When I was a kid, the weekly trips to our town library were some of the few things I loved about my childhood. And the pile of books mom would bring home, from picture books to chapter books, were the things that got me through many a terrible time.

[Janine]

Playful illustrations

My favorite part about the whole book was the fun illustrations. The playful illustrations kept my 3.5 year old involved as I read her the book.

I would recommend this book for 3-8 year olds. It is a perfect book to ask questions as you are reading it. For example, what would you do, how would that make you feel, what do you think is going to happen.

I’m glad I picked this book for Feb. 1st reads.

[Shari (Shira)]

It is fortuitous that I happened across this book the same week that I read EVELYN DEL REY IS MOVING AWAY. AGNES'S PLACE is the same story told in reverse. Instead of being seperated from her dear friend, Agnes, the only child in her multistory apartment building, discovers that another girl has moved it. You won't need Kleenex for this one.

[Deborah]

LOVED the illustrations! Bright and colorful and chock full of so many things happening on one page that kids will have a good time looking for and spotting things. The story is a quiet one about a girl named Agnes who likes the routine of her life living in an apartment until one day, it's disrupted by the arrival of a new kid.

[Dawn]

I liked the illustrations more than the story, which was a good enough story, but felt incomplete. Either I missed something that was maybe implied, or a question the story raised in my mind simply wasn't meant to be answered (but I'm not sure why).

[Ty]

Lovely art and conclusion

We got a kick out of the ending of the story and my boy laughed at the laughing lady in the bathroom. One of the better amazon first reads for kids in awhile. Smooth "playback" in the app on his tablet too. Sometimes these digital picture books aren't well formatted.

[Margaret]

Beautiful illustrations

This is a lovely picture book with very detailed illustrations that you could spend hours looking at. It would be great to read with your favorite preschoolers.

[Kristi]

There is so much to look at in this book. The illustrations are great!
I enjoyed the short story as well. I think Agnes and Anna will makes great friends!

Rating: G
Language: clean
Recommend: Yes

[Jo Douglas]

Best Friends Can Find One Another in Plain Sight

Read the book to your favorite adult, they’ll get it. Good for kids too! Me and my best friend loved it!

[Gentry]

The illustrations alone make this a five star book.

[Lorrie]

Beautiful Story of a Welcoming Home

Lovely, joyful illustrations. I would’ve loved living in this building, this city, with these neighbors as a child. I would still.

[Moses Dee]

Lovely book!

I read the story to my kids. They both really enjoyed it. I personally thought the artwork was amazing. Definitely added an extra depth to the story.