The House by the lake : the true story of a house, its history, and the four families who made it home / written by Thomas Harding; illustrated Britta Teckentrup.
Material type:
TextCopyright date: ©2020Edition: First US edition 2020Description: 1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 26 x 29 cmContent type: - text
- still image
- unmediated
- volume
- 1536212741
- 9781536212747
- Alexander family -- Juvenile literature
- Harding, Thomas, 1968- -- Family -- Juvenile literature
- Meisel family -- Juvenile literature
- Potsdam (Germany) -- Biography -- Juvenile literature
- Potsdam (Germany) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- History -- Juvenile literature
- Potsdam (Germany) -- History, Local -- Juvenile literature
- Vacation homes -- Germany -- Berlin Suburban Area -- Juvenile literature
- Meisel family -- Juvenile fiction
- Jews -- Germany -- Potsdam -- Biography
- Vacation homes -- Germany -- Berlin Suburban Area
- Historic buildings -- Germany -- Berlin Suburban Area
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Children's Book
|
Dr. James Carlson Library | Children's NonFiction | 943.1546 H263 | Available | 33111009752151 | ||||
|
Children's Book
|
Main Library | Children's NonFiction | 943.1546 H263 | Available | 33111010398077 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
History comes home in a deeply moving, exquisitely illustrated tale of a small house, taken by the Nazis, that harbors a succession of families--and becomes a quiet witness to a tumultuous century.
The days went around like a wheel.
The sun rose, warming the walls of the house.
On the outskirts of Berlin, Germany, a wooden cottage stands on the shore of a lake. Over the course of a hundred years, this little house played host to a kind Jewish doctor and his family, a successful Nazi composer, wartime refugees, and a secret-police informant. During that time, as a world war came and went and the Berlin Wall arose just a stone's throw from the back door, the house filled up with myriad everyday moments. And when that time was over, and the dwelling was empty and derelict, the great-grandson of the man who built the house felt compelled to bring it back to life and listen to the story it had to tell. Illuminated by Britta Teckentrup's magnificent illustrations, Thomas Harding's narration reads like a haunting fairy tale--a lyrical picture-book rendering of the story he first shared in an acclaimed personal history for adult readers.
Thomas Harding adapts his adult memoir of the same name for younger readers, tracing the shadow of war as it falls across a one-story cottage and the people who share it.
Houses can hold mysteries, as most children know. Around this truth, Harding has built a story about one particular house in Germany that witnessed history. Outside of Berlin, this home with blue shutters, beside a lake, holds a great deal of appeal, and readers will relate to the various children who lived there, played games on its lawn, swam in the lake, and interacted with the natural world. Teckentrup's illustrations are light and soft-focused in these peaceful spreads, but each change of the house's occupants is characterized by pages steeped in gray and brown--soldiers send the first owners away, others flee before armies, and a wall is built during another family's tenure, separating the house from the lake. Finally, the house, crumbling, is visited by the great-grandson of the first owners, Jews who ultimately fled Germany. He--the author, it turns out--takes on the task of restoration, and readers will be happy to learn it now serves as a center for education. A story of hope for children interested in history and how it relates to the present.
Grades 2-4.