The Little House

1942 picture book by Virginia Lee Burton

For The "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, see Little House on the Prairie. For the 1998 novel by Philippa Gregory, see The Little House (novel). For the 2014 Japanese film, see The Little House (film).

The Little House

First edition

Author| Virginia Lee Burton
Illustrator| Virginia Lee Burton
Cover artist| Virginia Lee Burton
Country| United States
Genre| Children's picture book
Publisher| Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Publication date

| 1942
Media type| Hardback
Pages| 40
ISBN| 0-395-18156-9
OCLC| 1347325

The Little House is a 1942 children's picture book written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1943.

## Inspiration[edit]

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".[1] Burton denied it was a critique of urban sprawl, but instead wished to convey the passage of time 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".[2]

## Story[edit]

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, and more little houses. Next, the small houses are replaced by tenements and apartments. Streetcars, an elevated railroad, and a subway start running past the house. Finally, two gigantic skyscrapers 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[edit]

The book was also made into a 1952 animated short by Walt Disney, directed by Wilfred Jackson, story adapted by Bill Peet and Bill Cottrell, musical score by Paul J. Smith, and narrated by Sterling Holloway.[3] It has also been released as an audio book.[1] The apartments and skyscrapers from the Disney adaptation of The Little House make a cameo appearance in "Toontown" in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The Little House has a cameo appearance in the film Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers, being a house in Chip's neighborhood, looking older, and referred to as "Mrs. House" by Chip.[4]

### 1952 film[edit]

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 in the presidential election goes by, and the Little House is shown to have had two tall tenement 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" 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[edit]

The book has been noted for its insights on urban sprawl. It won the 1943 Caldecott Medal.[5] It was identified as one of the top 100 best books for children by the National Education Association in 1999 and 2007 polls.[6][7] It was one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal.[8]

In recent years, the story has drawn criticism as being implicitly anti-urban. As CityLab's Carl Abbott noted in 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."

## See also[edit]

* Children's literature portal

* Nail house
* NIMBYism

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "Books by Virginia Lee Burton". Houghton Mifflin. 2006-01-01. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
2. ^ Burton, Virginia Lee (1943-07-01). "Making Picture Books". Horn Book Magazine. 19 (4): 228–232. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
3. ^ "The Little House (1952)". IMDB.com. 2006-01-01. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
4. ^ Mason, Courtney (May 24, 2022). "Every Disney & Cartoon Cameo In Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers".
5. ^ Goss, Gail (2001-07-01). "The Little House Meets Urban Sprawl". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2006-09-06. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
6. ^ "100 Best Books for Children". TeachersFirst.com. 2006-01-01. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
7. ^ National Education Association (2007). "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". Retrieved 2012-08-22.
8. ^ Bird, Elizabeth (2012-07-06). "Top 100 Picture Books Poll Results". School Library Journal "A Fuse #8 Production" blog. Retrieved 2012-08-22.

## External links[edit]

* "Top 100 Picture Books, #25". School Library Journal Blog. Retrieved 2012-12-12.

Awards

Preceded by

Make Way for Ducklings

|  Caldecott Medal recipient
1943 | Succeeded by

Many Moons

* v
* t
* e

Caldecott Medal–winning works

1938–1950|

* Animals of the Bible (1938)
* Mei Li (1939)
* Abraham Lincoln (1940)
* They Were Strong and Good (1941)
* Make Way for Ducklings (1942)
* The Little House (1943)
* Many Moons (1944)
* Prayer for a Child (1945)
* The Rooster Crows (1946)
* The Little Island (1947)
* White Snow, Bright Snow (1948)
* The Big Snow (1949)
* Song of the Swallows (1950)

1951–1975|

* The Egg Tree (1951)
* Finders Keepers (1952)
* The Biggest Bear (1953)
* Madeline's Rescue (1954)
* Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper (1955)
* Frog Went A-Courtin' (1956)
* A Tree Is Nice (1957)
* Time of Wonder (1958)
* Chanticleer and the Fox (1959)
* Nine Days to Christmas (1960)
* Baboushka and the Three Kings (1961)
* Once a Mouse (1962)
* The Snowy Day (1963)
* Where the Wild Things Are (1964)
* May I Bring a Friend? (1965)
* Always Room for One More (1966)
* Sam, Bangs & Moonshine (1967)
* Drummer Hoff (1968)
* The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship (1969)
* Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1970)
* A Story, a Story (1971)
* One Fine Day (1972)
* The Funny Little Woman (1973)
* Duffy and the Devil (1974)
* Arrow to the Sun (1975)

1976–2000|

* Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (1976)
* Ashanti to Zulu (1977)
* Noah's Ark (1978)
* The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses (1979)
* Ox-Cart Man (1980)
* Fables (1981)
* Jumanji (1982)
* Shadow (1983)
* The Glorious Flight (1984)
* Saint George and the Dragon (1985)
* The Polar Express (1986)
* Hey, Al (1987)
* Owl Moon (1988)
* Song and Dance Man (1989)
* Lon Po Po (1990)
* Black and White (1991)
* Tuesday (1992)
* Mirette on the High Wire (1993)
* Grandfather's Journey (1994)
* Smoky Night (1995)
* Officer Buckle and Gloria (1996)
* Golem (1997)
* Rapunzel (1998)
* Snowflake Bentley (1999)
* Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (2000)

2001–present|

* So You Want to Be President? (2001)
* The Three Pigs (2002)
* My Friend Rabbit (2003)
* The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (2004)
* Kitten's First Full Moon (2005)
* The Hello, Goodbye Window (2006)
* Flotsam (2007)
* The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2008)
* The House in the Night (2009)
* The Lion & the Mouse (2010)
* A Sick Day for Amos McGee (2011)
* A Ball for Daisy (2012)
* This is Not My Hat (2013)
* Locomotive (2014)
* The Adventures of Beekle (2015)
* Finding Winnie (2016)
* Radiant Child (2017)
* Wolf in the Snow (2018)
* Hello Lighthouse (2019)
* The Undefeated (2020)
* We Are Water Protectors (2021)
* Watercress (2022)
* Hot Dog (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Walt Disney Animation Studios short films

Mickey Mouse
and friends|

* Mickey Mouse film series (1928–2013)
* Donald Duck film series (1937–61)
* Pluto film series (1937–51)
* Donald & Goofy film series (1938–1947)
* Goofy film series (1939–2007)
* Chip 'n' Dale film series (1951–54)
* Humphrey the Bear film series (1956)
* How to Stay at Home (2021)

Additional series|

* Laugh-O-Grams (1921–23)
* Alice Comedies (1923–27)
* Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927–28)
* Silly Symphony (1929–39)
* Winnie the Pooh (1966–1983)
* Roger Rabbit (1989–93)
* Prep & Landing (2009–11)
* Short Circuit (2020–22)
* At Home with Olaf (2020)
* Olaf Presents (2021)

Stand-alone
films|

* Ferdinand the Bull (1938)
* The Thrifty Pig (1941)
* Food Will Win the War (1941)
* All Together (1942)
* Stop That Tank! (1942)
* Chicken Little (1943)
* The Grain That Built a Hemisphere (1943)
* Education for Death (1943)
* Reason and Emotion (1943)
* The Pelican and the Snipe (1944)
* The Brave Engineer (1950)
* Morris the Midget Moose (1950)
* Lambert the Sheepish Lion (1952)
* Susie the Little Blue Coupe (1952)
* The Little House (1952)
* Ben and Me (1953)
* Melody (1953)
* Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953)
* Football Now and Then (1953)
* Social Lion (1954)
* Pigs Is Pigs (1954)
* A Cowboy Needs a Horse (1956)
* Jack and Old Mac (1956)
* The Truth About Mother Goose (1957)
* The Story of Anyburg U.S.A. (1957)
* Paul Bunyan (1958)
* Noah's Ark (1959)
* Goliath II (1960)
* The Saga of Windwagon Smith (1961)
* It's Tough to Be a Bird (1969)
* The Small One (1978)
* Vincent (1982)
* Fun with Mr. Future (1982)
* Oilspot and Lipstick (1987)
* Off His Rockers (1992)
* John Henry (2000)
* Destino (2003)
* Lorenzo (2004)
* One by One (2004)
* The Little Matchgirl (2006)
* Glago's Guest (2008)
* Tick Tock Tale (2010)
* The Ballad of Nessie (2011)
* Paperman (2012)
* Feast (2014)
* Inner Workings (2016)
* Us Again (2021)
* Far from the Tree (2021)
* Once Upon a Studio (2023)

Based on
feature films|

* 7 Wise Dwarfs (1941)
* Casey Bats Again (1954)
* A Dairy Tale (2004, direct-to-video)
* Super Rhino (2009, direct-to-video)
* Tangled Ever After (2012)
* Frozen Fever (2015)
* Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017)
* Once Upon a Snowman (2020)

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Wilfred Jackson

* Mickey's Follies (1929)
* Midnight in a Toy Shop (1930)
* The Castaway (1930)
* The China Plate (1931)
* The Cat's Out (1931)
* Egyptian Melodies (1931)
* The Clock Store (1931)
* The Spider and the Fly (1931)
* The Fox Hunt (1931)
* The Ugly Duckling (1931)
* The Bird Store (1932)
* The Grocery Boy (1932)
* Barnyard Olympics (1932)
* Mickey's Revue (1932)
* The Bears and the Bees (1932)
* Musical Farmer (1932)
* Mickey in Arabia (1932)
* The Whoopee Party (1932)
* Touchdown Mickey (1932)
* The Klondike Kid (1932)
* Santa's Workshop (1932)
* Mickey's Mellerdrammer (1933)
* Father Noah's Ark (1933)
* Mickey's Mechanical Man (1933)
* Lullaby Land (1933)
* The Pied Piper (1933)
* Puppy Love (1933)
* The Pet Store (1933)
* The Night Before Christmas (1933)
* The China Shop (1934)
* The Grasshopper and the Ants (1934)
* Funny Little Bunnies (1934)
* The Wise Little Hen (1934)
* Peculiar Penguins (1934)
* The Goddess of Spring (1934)
* The Tortoise and the Hare (1935)
* The Band Concert (1935)
* Water Babies (1935)
* Mickey's Garden (1935)
* Music Land (1935)
* Mickey's Grand Opera (1936)
* Elmer Elephant (1936)
* Mickey's Rival (1936)
* Toby Tortoise Returns (1936)
* The Country Cousin (1936)
* More Kittens (1936)
* Woodland Café (1937)
* The Old Mill (1937)
* Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
* Farmyard Symphony (1938)
* Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938)
* Pinocchio (1940)
* Fantasia (1940)
* Dumbo (1941)
* Golden Eggs (1941)
* The New Spirit (1942)
* Saludos Amigos (1942)
* Song of the South (1946)
* Melody Time (1948)
* Cinderella (1950)
* Alice in Wonderland (1951)
* The Little House (1952)
* Peter Pan (1953)
* Lady and the Tramp (1955)

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