A House is a House for Me

by Mary Ann Hoberman
(1978, 48 pages)

A hill is a house for an ant, an ant.
A hive is a house for a bee.
A hole is a house for a mole or a mouse
And a house is a house for me!

A web is a house for a spider.
A bird builds its nest in a tree.
There is nothing so snug as a bug in a rug
And a house is a house for me!

So starts one of my favorite picture books of all time. The musical, galloping meter propels us through every manner of "house." The illustrations are intricate and inviting to look at, providing lots of content for little ones to ask and talk about, without being overtly educational:

An igloo's a house for an Eskimo.
A tepee's a house for a Cree.
A pueblo's a house of a Hopi.
And a wigwam may hold a Mohee.

The author gets carried away and predicts that you will, too:

And once you get started in thinking this way,
It seems that whatever you see
Is either a house or it lives in a house,
And a house is a house for me!

You'll enjoy A House is a House for Me at least as much as your child does.