A luminous picture-book tribute to house and home gently evokes the
passage of time, the solace of memory, and the joys of preservation and
renewal.
Every house has a story. This house--an old one hunkered in the deep
grass below a wide country sky--is a waiting house. Once it was full of
laughter and song. The sounds of life rang within its walls. Now it
stands quiet and still. The house has sheltered many families over the
years and remembers them fondly, especially the children. New families
arrive to look, but none stay. Perhaps the house, too, now belongs to
the Long Ago and Used to Be? Or will the "right" family move in to honor
its past and build new memories? Wistful and nostalgic, Mary Lyn Ray's
poetic text, combined with glowing, pastoral illustrations by E. B.
Goodale that capture the lonely house's unique character, create a
quietly affecting hymn to hope and surprise that will enchant readers of
all ages.