The Yellow House

The Yellow House
Blake Morrison
pictures by Helen Craig
Walker Books, 1987

Again, not really a "vintage" book, but 20 years is at least a classic right? Anyway, found this one at the library, and I just loved it. For any parent who read To Kill a Mockingbird and/or had that mystery house in the neighborhood that you always wondered about. I had one right next door, a large mansion-type home abandoned as-is by a woman whisked away to a nursing home. We would run up to the door and knock, fully expecting a ghost of some kind to answer, then we would run screaming when we thought we saw something (or someone) move within.

Every day we passed the yellow house
on our way to the park, Mom and me and my little sister Jenny.
The house was on its own. It looked
old, sad and rather scary.

The imaginings this girl has are far more spectacular, including tigers, panda bears and laughing gnomes... no witches or goblins here. I like a lot of the books from the 80s that have those pinched tight illustrations. I guess it harkens back to the fact that most little girls love little things, and for me, that always included little pictures.

Love the spooky, exciting feel this book provokes. Makes me wanna search out my own yellow house in the hood so I can start building the legend for my son.