A Place to Call Home

by Alexis Deacon, Viviane Schwarz (Illustrator)

Seven little junkyard critters venture out of their small, dark hole on a charmingly madcap quest for a new home, with laugh-out-loud results.

When a band of brothers outgrows the dim confines of their birthplace, there is no other choice but to set out into the world on a grand adventure. Timid and terrified at first, they soon find ingenious ways to simulate the safety of their familiar hole. They bravely cross a muddy sea, climb a discarded mountain, survive an appliance-like labyrinth, and finally reach the edge of the world. What will they see there, and will they ever find a place they can call their own? Loaded with visual humor and breathless commentary by the intrepid crew, this comic book-style tale of solidarity and daring will have readers giggling, cheering, and ready to see the world in a new way.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Family, Adventure, Childrens, Humor, Friendship

40 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2011

About the author

Alexis Deacon is an acclaimed author and illustrator. Beegu and Jitterbug Jam, both of which he illustrated, were named as New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of the Year. He lives in London.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

English picture-book author/artist Alexis Deacon, the creator of that charming little alien in Beegu , joins forces with Viviane Schwarz - expat German illustrator and author, now living in London, who is best known as the woman behind There Are Cats in This Book - in this delightful tale of a group of little creatures (mice? hamsters?) who must seek a new den, when their old one becomes too small for them. Soon "clothed" in an assortment of odds and ends to be found in the junkyard they call home (their initial den was a hole in an abandoned mattress), the siblings make their way through and around a variety of obstacles, relying on the only one of them who can see, for guidance. But when he is snatched up by the junkyard's guard dog, the tiny procession kicks into high gear to rescue him, ending up discovering something incredible - the wide world beyond the junkyard fence - in the process...

Reading through A Place to Call Home on my train-ride this morning, I was convinced that this was going to be a three-star book for me. I enjoyed Deacon's story, and appreciated the humor - both textual and visual - to be found in the bumbling little companions' quirky quest, but wasn't terribly involved, all the same. The artwork was very cute, but then, I'd expect no less from Schwarz, after enjoying her There Are Cats in This Book . Then I got to the final two-page spread, and suddenly the book was a four-star one! I liked the visual "surprise" at the end, mostly because it was a surprise, and because it very cleverly jolts the reader out of "make-believe land," and into the "real" world. Very well done, indeed!

[Sarah Coles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story follows a family of hamsters who have to relocate from their home in a junkyard because they have grown too big. Despite being an adult reader I found the illustrations in this story amusing and I especially enjoyed the corresponding speech as it seemed to give each of the animals a unique voice. This in turn allows for the narrator to 'perform' with different voices if the book is to be read aloud. I liked the different layout of this storybook as being partially 'comic-book-esque', and indeed this would provide young children with the opportunity to appreciate different literary formats. Finally, I particularly liked the way in which this story ends. It introduces children (even at a very early age!) to the important concept that the world outside of their home is big and exciting and not somewhere to be afraid of, but to explore!

[Fiona Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book about growing up and moving away from home told by a group of hamsters. It shows the initial fear and struggles that we face when heading out into the big world and start having to fend for ourselves through the hamsters having their eyes covered with various objects. The hamsters then work together as a team to face the dog - giving them the confidence to remove the objects covering their eyes as they are ready to face the big and beautiful world.

[Louise Goddard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely story of a group of little animals who must travel together to find a new home. When things go wrong, they must have faith in themselves that they can do whatever they need to do, which I think is a lovely message for children. If I can do what I've already done, I can do anything! Self-belief is so important for young children and this book really encourages it while still having a cute story line and fantastic, detailed illustrations.

[Annie Wingate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story all about a group of animals who become too big for their home. In this journey they discover there’s a much bigger world out there with countless opportunities and experiences. Would be a great books to read with children.

[Iqra Fiaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this books and its underlying message that an adventure can be waiting right outside your door, you just have to be brave enough to step outside.
The sense of family and belonging is a heart-warming part of this book that made it all that more enjoyable.
The only thing I didn't like is that the illustrations went from 'cartoon-like' to realistic at the end. Although I understand that this could have been done to assist children with making links between the message in the story and their own lives, I think this could have been achieved through book talk and class discussions.
The story was enjoyable as a whole.

[Arminzerella · Rating 5 out of 5]

A group of (what appears to be) hamsters outgrows their hidey hole home in the junkyard and the seven of them decide that they must find new digs. They are afraid to venture out into the world without some kind of protection (very, very small portable holes that they can take with them on their quest), but they soon find enough portable holes for everyone. Well, everyone, except “Brother,” who has to make do with a lampshade. He’s the only one who can see anything, though, so he tries to guide his siblings through the inevitable dangers and obstacles they encounter outside of their hole. What follows is a hysterical adventure as the hamsters (wearing rubber gloves, a boot, a tea cup, a paper towel roll, and a faucet over their heads) attempt to cross the junkyard. They cross the “sea,” climb a “mountain,” struggle through the “desert,” and finally take a peek out from underneath their holes – just in time to see a terrible beast carrying off “Brother.” A very confused junkyard dog is assaulted by hamsters (and left wearing their accoutrements), as they make off with Brother and unleash themselves upon the world. “This place looks nice.”

A fun and imaginative story about expanding one’s horizons, overcoming fears, and finding a new home, A Place to Call Home, will make adults and kids giggle as the hamsters take on the world. Cute hamsters wearing ridiculous things on their heads = winning combination!

[Alice Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An imaginative story about seven little brothers going on a adventure through a junkyard. They show friendship, resilience and bravery throughout. I just loved this and how the author puts the characters into the 'real world' at the end to make the children feel connected to the story. I would love to read this to a class and listen to their laughter. We would look at all of the thought bubbles in the story and I would get the children to write their own with a blank picture of the brothers. We would look at how they all act using drama to explore their feelings and personalities.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A family of hamsters have outgrown their home. They must take a long journey across the junk-yard to find a place that they can call home.

This book is cute - some is regular picture book style, some is more comic book panels. Only the first two pages have regular text - the rest of the story is told through the discussion between the hamsters. The drawings are simple, and often only use a few colours. The junk-yard scene, for instance, is shaded mostly in blues, blacks, greys, and white, except for the accents of yellow - the hamsters, their old mattress home, and some items that will show up in the next few pages.

Not bad - it's cute. My favourite touch was the missing sign on the fence of what must have been the family's progenitor.

[Karen A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This had me laughing out loud to the point of tears by the fourth page. Oddly reminded me of Plato's cave. Along the lines of what one thinks is reality can be so decieving especially when your head is in a dark hole. However no need to have philosophical discussions with your youngster Ms. Schwarz's illustrations get across the big picture quite nicely and Alexis Deacon's bubbled slap stick conversation between the clueless rodents is so much fun it will keep you far away from the deep meaning behind the tale. This would be a great read aloud to early elementary kids during school visits. Or alternately a nice chuckle with the family at story time.

[Adele · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not nearly so bad as I Am Henry Finch, which I read at the same time, but there is nothing lower than one star and I cannot justify giving this book two stars because it was most definitely NOT ok. Another seriously creepy offering from Deacon. I shudder to think what his childhood was like if he thinks these are children's books that are actually appropriate for children. And what's up with his obsession with "beasts"?

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something really charming about this book. Style is sort of like a comic with panels and speech bubbles. The little guinea pigs (or are they hamsters or some other kind of rodent?) are hilarious going around with gloves, boots, and other objects covering their heads and obscuring their vision...yet trying to figure out how to navigate across a junk yard and describing (incorrectly) what they _think_ they are doing. Great fun!

[Phoebe Bulpin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovey book about the journey out of a comfort zone. I wasn't sure at first but after reading it for a second time I began to connect with the characters. Not many people like to leave their comfort zone and this story tells of the uncertainty and adventure in doing so. It could be used in the primary classroom to help with the transition of moving home or school.

[Cosette · Rating 1 out of 5]

My listener was bothered by this book - ?
It starts with a moral, but then slips sideways... like my son did earlier today after stepping on a patch of black ice while clutching his medium sour patch kids Rita's water ice.

[Sean Lillie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought 'A Place to Call Home' was quite good, I would definitely recommend using this book in a KS1 or lower KS2 class. I feel that reading this book with the class would enable students to appreciate fully, as the teacher can ask probing questions: "How do you think they feel?", "this doesn't look like a nice place to live", and finally "Why do you think they want to live here?". This short picturebook achieves a nice blend between its humour and message, with one not taking away from the other too much. I would say that I felt that some pages dragged a little bit with some of the characters seeming to repeat one another at points, but ultimately this is a relatively minor complaint.

[Carolienvanderwaarde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een familie hamster moet op zoek naar een 'groter gat', want ze groeien letterlijk uit het oude gat, hun hol. Erg grappig zoals de beestjes zichzelf 'onzichtbaar' maken met behulp van allerlei afval van de stort waar ze wonen. De grote reis kan beginnen. Af en toe gunt de illustrator ons een kijkje vanaf een afstandje, zodat je kunt zien dat de reis niet veel om t lijf heeft, in tegenstelling tot wat de hamsters denken. Die steken 'een zee' over, beklimmen 'een berg', raken verzeilt in de 'woestijn', verdwalen in een 'doolhof' en staan dan aan de rand van de wereld

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great coming of age book, written in a humorous comic style. The hamsters all have characteristics that are easily recognisable in each other, especially when I feel pushed out of my comfort zone. A book that could be a great source of discussion about what the hamsters should do, what the children would do and about growing up or challenging ourselves out of our comfort zone.

Potentially a book that would be nice to share with year 6s as they begin the transition to being a small fish in a big pond!

[Alex Yearsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows 7 hamsters journey as they go on an adventure after leaving their small dark hole which they had previously called home. As none of them have previously left the hole before, everything they encounter is both new and exciting which makes for quite enjoyable and humorous reading. Towards the end of the book one of the hamsters is kidnapped and they must all work together to save their friend, this gives a really nice and exciting end to the book which I think the children will enjoy.

[William Weatherhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explores leaving your comfort zone, something children and even myself dislikes doing. It explores when you do leave your 'home' you will find new things that may be better or make you a better person. These things you wouldn't have been able to find if you had not left your comfort zone. This may be a good book to help a child that is perhaps sad about moving house or moving from primary school to secondary school.

[Ruby Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely coming of age book in which a family of humorous hamsters explore the world around them. I like the fact that it has the message that sometimes you need to come out of your comfort zone in order to fully appreciate and access what is around you. There are so many great opportunities for story-boarding, writing from different perspectives and thinking about how being in social groups may prevent us from exploring or seeing/learning new things.

[Gabriella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really funny and silly book. I found this very humorous and I think children would really enjoy this book. I think the illustrations and speech bubbles are really interactive. I think this book would be great for children to look in pairs on in groups as their is lots to discuss and chat about. I would recommend this book to children.

[Francesca Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is about a group of animals trying to find a new home because theirs is too small. The story is told through speech of the characters which is displayed in speech bubbles. It takes the animals a long time to find a home and they tackle obstacles. For example, they come across a ‘beast’ which is in fact a dog.

[Sophie Goulding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure about this book when I started reading it but I started to enjoy it as I went along! I loved the bit where they said what they had accomplished and then said 'So.. are we going to let a beast take our brother from us now?'

Lovely bright pictures with good illustrations

[Daniel Rodd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant little book. It explores ideas of growing up and overcoming challenges. The story has a great mix of humour and drama and could be used with children as the base for discussion about themes of Adventure, coming of age abd Family.

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended to me by my 8 year old. I love this book - it's hilarious and adorable but ends with a positive message about home and the world we live in. I would use this as a whole class read, as part of a sequence of geography lessons on place or even an art lesson as the illustrations are combined with photography - an example of mixing media.

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Alexis Deacon’s work and just think it’s so easy to read and always carries such a lovely message. I love the team work and also the sense of accomplishment they feel at the end. The illustrations are also very creative and truly allow the readers in.

[Amy Aldridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this story. It is clear how strong the partnership between author and illustrator is. Full of humour and a story I can see children asking to be read again and again, think this book would be a firm favourite for a lot of children.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was awesome! A graphic novel picture book about baby mice that get bigger and grow out of their home. They wonder around, most of them with stuff covering their eyes, trying to find a new home. This was hilarious 😂. I loved the facial expression of the dog. Solid ending.

[Kate CB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this at uni - Lovely book but a bit harder to follow reading aloud as it’s just conversation rather than a narrative, however this approach would have nice opportunities in the classroom for children to read aloud. Nice illustrations and a lovely message about family and growing up.

[Sheila Moran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story. These little "critters" are cute and there are many laughable moments as they search a junk yard for a new home.