Author: Susan Marie Swanson
Title: The House in the Night
Illustrator: Beth Krommes
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Year: 2008
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Caldecott
Reading Level: Emergent
Interest-Level: Preschool, Primary, and Elementary
Topics: Dwellings, light, night
Summary: The House in the Night follows a girl who receives a key to the house and from there begins a tale with cumulative patterns. It revolves around the light: light in the sky, a light in the lamp and finally a light in the house. The illustrator focuses on the importance of light in this book by having everything black except for things that give off light, which are in yellow.
Extension Activities:
*Discussion: Ask students “What are some things that light up?” or “What things need light to work?” etc.
*Provide white paper, black markers or pencils, and have each student pick one other color. Have the children draw a picture in black and within that picture pick a reoccurring item that will be the one color they have. For example, draw a garden of vegetables and within that garden the only color is red for tomatoes.
