In many of Kevin Henkes's books, children long to make a connection with others. But in Little Houses, Henkes and Laura Dronzek's poetic, meditative picture book, the nameless young (human) narrator is happy to keep her marvelous discovery to herself.
When she visits her grandmother's beach house, the narrator feels as though she's being summoned by the ocean: "Sometimes I think someone/ is calling me./ But it's just the waves/ coming in, going out." While the girl and her grandmother are on the beach looking at shells, Grandma reminds her that shells are little houses--"and that," explains the narrator, "gets me thinking." She mulls over how different each shell is and wonders who lives inside them--or is it ghosts? Little Houses offers a series of reflections by a narrator who considers the expedition itself as rewarding as finding answers: "I'd like to know/ what a pelican thinks of a sandpiper/ and if a snowy egret has ever seen snow./ So right now, I'll walk up and down/ the beach/ looking for little houses/ and thinking about everything I don't know."
In his plot-driven picture books, Henkes presents stories that conclude with clarity and understanding. Dronzek, who has previously collaborated with Henkes on other great outdoors-themed titles (When Spring Comes; Summer Song), paints with a sumptuous nautical palette and favors bold, plainly defined imagery. While she is sufficiently awed by the animal kingdom to render birds and sea life realistically, not even a staunch naturalist would begrudge her the occasional smiling pelican. --Nell Beram, freelance writer and YA author