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mehsi's review
5.0
7 hamsters have outgrown their nest and need to find a new home for them to live in.
This was an absolutely adorable book to read. I love hamsters, so when I saw this in the library I just had to read it! And what a trip it was. The illustrations are just beautiful, colourful and I love how the hamsters were drawn.
I had a few giggles because of the things the hamsters tried to do. And I actually felt sorry for the dog at the ending part a bit.
If you are an hamster fan, or if you like colourful images and a fun story, then this book is for you!
This was an absolutely adorable book to read. I love hamsters, so when I saw this in the library I just had to read it! And what a trip it was. The illustrations are just beautiful, colourful and I love how the hamsters were drawn.
I had a few giggles because of the things the hamsters tried to do. And I actually felt sorry for the dog at the ending part a bit.
Spoiler
So glad that they found home again, and what a beautiful place it is!If you are an hamster fan, or if you like colourful images and a fun story, then this book is for you!
hello_sunshine's review
3.0
Graphic novel illustrations and speech bubbles, funny concept. Ok- not fabulous. Hamsters find their way out of the mattress they live in and into the big world.
danicamidlil's review
4.0
Very fun and silly book. Reminded me of the venerable [a:Jan Thomas|871172|Jan Thomas|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg]. More please!
lornarei's review
3.0
The cover with the critters peeking through the hole caught my attention. Cute graphic novel-type story about their journey to find a new home. Would work better one-on-one than at a storytime. This would have taken ages to read when my daughter was younger because she would have enjoyed looking at everything going on in the pictures.
mat_tobin's review
5.0
Sometimes in children's literature, there are some wonderful partnerships made: Dahl & Blake, Morpurgo & Foreman, Gaiman & McKean, Reeve & McIntyre to name but a few but Deacon and Schwarz are something extremely special. Much of this is down to the fact that they work together in the picturebook world rather than illustrated book. The relationship between the words and the pictures in all the work that they have collaborated on would have me believe that they are one and the same person.
A Place to Call Home is a wonderful story related to that awkward stage in life when we must begin to see that there is a world, an adventure awaiting that lies beyond the safety of our home and our limited understanding of the world.
The story opens, as all good picturebooks do, with the front cover, a great gaping hole in the fencing panel and a small horde of inquisitive, smiling hamsters staring straight at us. A technique in which I was reminded of [b:The Three Pigs|138069|The Three Pigs|David Wiesner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1172092242s/138069.jpg|133087]. Each hamster, you find as you enter the title page is unique in shape and character (I found myself rooting for the cheeky chappy resting upon the chunky hamster to the far left).
The next page finds us in the womb-like warmth of the hamster's home. How they got there we never know (although there is a hint) but their bedding is interesting indeed. Torn strips of paper which display constellations, ships at sea, astronauts, knights templar, maps and mysterious creatures speak to me of the world outside and the opportunities which, perhaps, the hamsters were reluctant to acknowledge but which reside in all of us. Perhaps they are images and stories which have entered the subconscious of the hamsters and feed them their wit and cunning when they find themselves tasked with tackling the outside world or perhaps they are there for the reader to make connections with later on in the book.
The early signs of the omniscient narrator soon give way to words and world of our seven hamsters, who, springing forth from within an old mattress, find themselves (on the verso) staring out into the dark, wide world of a junk yard (perhaps). I love the idea that this first double-page, which in itself encourages a re-reading, is, in fact, the story map showing the route for the hamsters' entire journey. Abandoned bikes, puddles of water, chained dogs and barbed wire lend a sense of the treacherous unknown. The only colour that stands strong against the blue-grey of the night is the bright yellow of the mattress and the items which the hamsters later adopt.
Whilst trying to work together to find a new home/hole, the hamster adorn themselves with items that they believe will protect them. In many ways this restricts them from accepting the reality of the world around them but this ostrich-like ignorance is made all the more laughable by the way they wear them. A tap, a pair of gloves, a lampshade (easily my favourite) and a cup means that we have a character cast akin to Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits.
As they journey across the landscape and clamber over, what seems to them but not to the reader, insurmountable obstacles, they find that it is their faith, love and support in each other is what drives their exodus on. I imagine that children will love the fact that they, as the more knowledgeable reader, perceive the world clearer than the hamsters and yet they only mirror our own fears and exaggerations for when we enter a new place or take a leap into the unknown.
It is only when a moment of imagined peril occurs that the hamsters are ready to abandoned all sense of comfort and safety in order to save one of their own (the dog's face throughout this scene is priceless). When the narrator returns to close the story at the end, the hamsters are ready to see the world for what it is and are ready to explore it with eyes wide open.
I am always going to be biased when it comes to Schwartz and Deacon but this is yet another masterpiece in which both written and visual narrative work so seamlessly together.
A Place to Call Home is a wonderful story related to that awkward stage in life when we must begin to see that there is a world, an adventure awaiting that lies beyond the safety of our home and our limited understanding of the world.
The story opens, as all good picturebooks do, with the front cover, a great gaping hole in the fencing panel and a small horde of inquisitive, smiling hamsters staring straight at us. A technique in which I was reminded of [b:The Three Pigs|138069|The Three Pigs|David Wiesner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1172092242s/138069.jpg|133087]. Each hamster, you find as you enter the title page is unique in shape and character (I found myself rooting for the cheeky chappy resting upon the chunky hamster to the far left).
The next page finds us in the womb-like warmth of the hamster's home. How they got there we never know (although there is a hint) but their bedding is interesting indeed. Torn strips of paper which display constellations, ships at sea, astronauts, knights templar, maps and mysterious creatures speak to me of the world outside and the opportunities which, perhaps, the hamsters were reluctant to acknowledge but which reside in all of us. Perhaps they are images and stories which have entered the subconscious of the hamsters and feed them their wit and cunning when they find themselves tasked with tackling the outside world or perhaps they are there for the reader to make connections with later on in the book.
The early signs of the omniscient narrator soon give way to words and world of our seven hamsters, who, springing forth from within an old mattress, find themselves (on the verso) staring out into the dark, wide world of a junk yard (perhaps). I love the idea that this first double-page, which in itself encourages a re-reading, is, in fact, the story map showing the route for the hamsters' entire journey. Abandoned bikes, puddles of water, chained dogs and barbed wire lend a sense of the treacherous unknown. The only colour that stands strong against the blue-grey of the night is the bright yellow of the mattress and the items which the hamsters later adopt.
Whilst trying to work together to find a new home/hole, the hamster adorn themselves with items that they believe will protect them. In many ways this restricts them from accepting the reality of the world around them but this ostrich-like ignorance is made all the more laughable by the way they wear them. A tap, a pair of gloves, a lampshade (easily my favourite) and a cup means that we have a character cast akin to Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits.
As they journey across the landscape and clamber over, what seems to them but not to the reader, insurmountable obstacles, they find that it is their faith, love and support in each other is what drives their exodus on. I imagine that children will love the fact that they, as the more knowledgeable reader, perceive the world clearer than the hamsters and yet they only mirror our own fears and exaggerations for when we enter a new place or take a leap into the unknown.
It is only when a moment of imagined peril occurs that the hamsters are ready to abandoned all sense of comfort and safety in order to save one of their own (the dog's face throughout this scene is priceless). When the narrator returns to close the story at the end, the hamsters are ready to see the world for what it is and are ready to explore it with eyes wide open.
I am always going to be biased when it comes to Schwartz and Deacon but this is yet another masterpiece in which both written and visual narrative work so seamlessly together.
choosejoytoday's review
3.0
Comic style picture book. Reminded me of Jan Thomas' dust bunnies. Lots of funny. I can see boys especially liking this one. Good teamwork displayed among the hamsters.
alicebennett's review
5.0
An imaginative story about seven little brothers going on a adventure through a junkyard. They show friendship, resilience and bravery throughout. I just loved this and how the author puts the characters into the 'real world' at the end to make the children feel connected to the story. I would love to read this to a class and listen to their laughter. We would look at all of the thought bubbles in the story and I would get the children to write their own with a blank picture of the brothers. We would look at how they all act using drama to explore their feelings and personalities.