''The Little House'' is a 1942 children's picture book written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton. Published by

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Financial Dist ...

, it was the recipient of the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

for illustration in 1943.

Inspiration

Author Virginia Lee Burton has stated that "The Little House was based on our own little house which we moved from the street into a field of daisies with apple trees growing around". Burton denied it was a critique of

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

, but instead wished to convey the passage of

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

to younger readers. Being a very visually driven book, many times Burton changed the amount of text to fit the illustration. "If the page is well drawn and finely designed, the child reader will acquire a sense of good design which will lead to an appreciation of beauty and the development of good taste. Primitive man thought in pictures, not in words, and this visual conception is far more fundamental than its sophisticated translation into verbal modes of thought".

Story

The story centers on a house built at the top of a small hill, far out in the country. Her builder decrees that she "may never be sold for gold or silver", but is built sturdy enough to one day see his great-great-grandchildren's great-great-grandchildren living in her. The house watches the seasons pass, and wonders about the lights of the city, which grow ever closer. Eventually, a road is built in front of the house. This is followed by roadside stands,

gas stations A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...

, and more little houses. Next, the small houses are replaced by

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

s and

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

Streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

s, an elevated

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, and a subway start running past the house. Finally, two gigantic

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

s are built, one on each side. Now standing in a large city, the house is sad because she misses being on the small hill in the countryside and her exterior looks shabby. One day the great-great-granddaughter of the builder sees the house and remembers stories that her grandmother told about living in just such a house, but far out in the country. When the great-great-granddaughter discovers that it is the same house, she arranges to have her moved out of the city, to a hill in the country where she can once again watch the seasons pass and live happily ever after.

Adaptations

The book was also made into a 1952 animated short by

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

, directed by

Wilfred Jackson Wilfred Jackson (January 24, 1906 – August 7, 1988) was an American animator, arranger, composer and director best known for his work on the ''Mickey Mouse'' and ''Silly Symphonies'' series of cartoons and the ''Night on Bald Mountain''/''Ave M ...

, story adapted by

Bill Peet William Bartlett Peet (''né'' Peed; January 29, 1915 – May 11, 2002) was an American children's book illustrator and a story writer and animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios. Peet joined Disney in 1937 and worked first on ''Snow Wh ...

and Bill Cottrell, musical score by Paul J. Smith, and narrated by

Sterling Holloway Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 4, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor and voice actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He did voice acting for The Walt Disney Company, playing Mr. Stork in ''Dumbo'', Ad ...

. It has also been released as an audio book. The apartments and skyscrapers from the Disney adaptation of ''The Little House'' make a cameo appearance in "Toontown" in ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...

''. The Little House also makes a cameo appearance in the '' Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers'' film referred to as Mrs. House by Chip as his next door neighbor.

1952 film

The story centers on a house built at the top of a small hill, far out in the country, who is delighted when a newlywed couple choose her for a home. However, the house feels lonely at night and wonders what it might be like to have other houses to talk to, often gazing at the lights of the distant city (known as urban sprawl), which can grow even more closer. Eventually two stately Victorian mansions are built on either side of the Little House. She is happy to have some neighbors at last, but is offended when the mansions rudely look down on her for being inferior. One night, a fire breaks out by unknown cause and both of the mansions burn down to the ground and are destroyed. The Little House considers this a pity, even though they weren't very nice. The cartoon then switches to the late 19th century as a parade of people voting for

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

in the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

goes by, and the Little House is shown to have had two tall

buildings built on either side of her. Sadly, her family moves away to escape all the noise that the residents in both buildings make, but the house reminds herself that come what may, she must stand her ground. Then on December 31 11:59 p.m., men singing "

Auld Lang Syne "Auld Lang Syne" (: note "s" rather than "z") is a popular song, particularly in the English-speaking world. Traditionally, it is sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. By extension, it is also often ...

" until at midnight they shouted, "Happy New Year!" as the Little House felt that she could never be happy again. Years pass, and the tenements get demolished to make way for three towering skyscrapers. By this time, the Little House has become battered and worn with age and has begun to long for her old life on the small hill in the countryside. One day, a wrecking crew comes, presumably to demolish her, but the Little House doesn't mind because she has come to consider herself that she's "just in the way" and "no good to anybody". She also resolves that she should be glad she has lived for as long as she did. However much to her delight, it turns out that they had come to move her out to the country and fix her up so that a new couple can come and live in her.

Critical reception

The book has been noted for its insights on urban sprawl. It won the 1943

. It was identified as one of the top 100 best books for children by the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stude ...

in 1999 and 2007 polls. It was one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

''. In recent years, the story has drawn criticism as being implicitly anti-urban. As CityLab's Carl Abbott noted i
2017
"Burton lovingly depicted the country setting as islands of meadow and trees that seem to float off the page. In contrast, the scenes of menacing urban growth are drawn with vigor, detail, and darker tones. Apartments and tenements surround the house, complete with rickety back stairways. Pounding traffic pollutes the air, trolleys clank, crowds hurry past, an elevated railway blocks light, and a subway rumbles directly beneath."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Little House, The 1942 children's books 1950s Disney animated short films 1952 animated films 1952 films American picture books Caldecott Medal–winning works Children's fiction books Films directed by Wilfred Jackson Films produced by Walt Disney Films scored by Paul Smith (film and television composer) Films set around New Year Films set in abandoned houses Houghton Mifflin books 1950s American films RKO Pictures short films RKO Pictures animated short films