Tuesday, March 29, 2016

The House That Zack Built

The House That Zack Built. Alison Murray. 2016. Candlewick Press. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: This is the house that Zack built. And this is the fly that buzzed on by, over the house that Zack built. This is the cat that stalked the fly that buzzed on by, over the house that Zack built.

Premise/plot: A retelling, of sorts, of The House that Jack Built. Zack, the house-builder, lives on the farm. And animals feature prominently in this retelling.

My thoughts: While I am not a fan of The House That Jack Built, I am very much a fan of The House that Zack Built. Part of the charm, for me, is the CAT. This gray-and-white cat had me at hello. And finding the cat on each page, and seeing the cat's expression was great fun for me. This cat has ATTITUDE, trust me. I liked the text. I did. I thought the rhythm and rhyme of it worked well. But I really enjoyed the illustrations.

Text: 3.5 out of 5
Illustrations: 4.5 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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