Why I Built the Boogle House

by Helen Marion Palmer, Lynn Fayman (Photographs)

A boy builds larger and larger houses for his pets, then suddenly finds himself with a pet house but no pet.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Helen Marion Palmer Geisel (September 23, 1898 – October 23, 1967), known professionally as Helen Palmer, was an American actress and author and the wife of children's book writer Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel). Her most well known book is Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?, published in 1963. This book, along with two others — I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo (1962) and Why I Built the Boogle House (1964) — combined Ms. Palmer's stories with photographs by Lynn Fayman. The photographs in I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo were taken at the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, and featured children from the Francis Parker School in San Diego interacting with the zoo's animals and staff.

Palmer also expanded Dr. Seuss's short story Gustav the Goldfish into the book A Fish Out Of Water, which was illustrated by P.D. Eastman.

Palmer met her future husband at Oxford University. She had a profound influence on his life, including suggesting that he should be an artist rather than a professor. They married in 1926 and had no children together. She committed suicide in 1967, after a series of illnesses (including cancer) spanning 13 years. (wikipedia)

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun book, plus it shows that kids should learn carpentry. Anyone who would rate this any less than 5 stars is a person with no imagination and clearly shouldn't have kids.

[Emmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for a vintage children's book, so when this one came across my radar, I had to give it a go. Honestly, was not expecting much. I thought that this would just be a simple book about animals (specifically pets). But, it was actually quite funny. The use of black and white photos as illustrations was a bold choice, but I think it worked, and the book itself was good for a laugh, especially as the story progressed. While I won't be tracking down a copy to put on my shelf, I'd read this again if it came my way.

[Marion Whyte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it when I was a kid.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a charming little book about a boy who build a house for a turtle, but when the turtle runs away (go figure) the boy keeps finding pets, but the house needs to be bigger. It's promoting carpentry for sure. The book has a fun story, wonderful photography, but yikes! This boy cannot keep a pet, so in the end I think it's best that he builds a house for a boogle because he'd just loose every other kind of pet, or they would all run away! Still, this was a fun book.

[Stanley Dunagin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book I ever read. Summer of Love 1967

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the name of this book was Boogie House, not Boogle! I read it to the kids today. Fairly cute. It's pretty fun with a lot of silliness. I love the hard work the boy put into all the houses and how cute and ramshackle it all became.