Raise the Roof! - Hardcover

Anastasia Suen is the author of Window Music, Delivery, The Clubhouse, and Loose Tooth!.

Elwood H. Smith is the illustrator of On the Go with Pirate Pete and Pirate Joe.

PreSchool-K-Suen and Smith combine a brisk, rhyming text with cartoon illustrations to create a start-to-finish look at how a house is built. The job is done mainly by a smiling couple clad in blue jeans, red shirts, and matching red caps. Starting with "Make a plan," the work progresses at a fast clip through measuring, excavating, pouring concrete, sawing, hammering, painting, plumbing, and even landscaping, ending with a well-earned rest when all is "done at last!" Smith's art has a decidedly retro feel; bright, flat colors; black outlines; and clean, angular shapes give the pictures a crisp look. The mostly double-page spreads feature lots of amusing complications, many caused by the pair's dog; he's shown "helping" in a decidedly human and humorous fashion. From his blissfully unaware application of the wrong color paint on a wide expanse of wall to his obvious dismay over the tile stuck to his foot, this pooch has plenty of personality and practically steals the show. And he manages to do so despite the fact that the brief text never mentions him at all. There are only one or two short declarative sentences per spread. This brevity and the fact that the words are well matched to the pictures suggest that the book may work as well for beginning readers as it does as a read-aloud for younger listeners.
Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA
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