The View

When the man in house Number Six builds an addition to get a better glimpse at the ocean, everyone in the neighborhood follows suit, in a crazed building bonanza that leaves the town with nothing but brick walls to look at.

Grade 2-4-- A disquieting and disheartening fable of human selfishness. Life is simple in a town of tract houses where the sameness of the dwellings is relieved only by ``completely different, but equally beautiful'' views from each home--until one owner begins to covet his neighbor's panorama. Once the gates of greed are opened, all of the citizens have elongated, elevated, or altered their own domiciles in an effort to see what the others see. With little explanation, a unanimous decision is reached to restore the town to its original appearance. All reside again in peaceful satisfaction--until a newcomer grows overly fond of his friend's view . . . . Henwood uses brightly colored and chalky textured paintings to convey the contrast between complacency and confusion as the town transforms itself from a sleepy village to a victim of sprawling urban blight, but even his childlike, flat figures and cheerful colors don't overcome the bleakness of this unengaging story. Failing to utilize Henwood's usual agility with double entendres, the authors instead have crafted a stilted, hopeless tale with little to commend it as either a lesson on the environment or a sermon on the human condition. --Dorothy Houlihan, formerly at White Plains Public Library, NY
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This environmental object lesson calls to mind the biblical tale of the tower of Babel. In a small, idyllically situated community, "each house had a completely different, but equally beautiful view." When one inhabitant opts to broaden his panorama with "a little addition on top of his house," he blocks a neighbor's vista. A building fever soon has all the town residents in its grip, and before long no one can see anything for all the frantic high-rise construction. Not content to learn a lesson, however, these opportunistic townsfolk reach a truce only to embark on another voyage of one-upmanship. Though the sagacious message here may be lost on little ones, the vibrantly colored images should keep them happily turning pages. As in The King Who Sneezed and The Clock Shop , Henwood uses an extravagant and unexpected palette--teals, fuchsias, chartreuses and aquamarines cast their glow over this brilliant burg. An urban--and urbane--charmer. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Everyone in the little group of identical houses has a fine view, each different from that of the neighbors'--until people start building additions. Number 6's added story gives him an ocean vista, but unfortunately blocks the mountains seen from Number 5--and so on, until all agree to ``put their houses back to the way they had been.'' Now, everyone is happy again--until a new neighbor builds a ``gigantic addition,'' thus beginning another round of competition for sightlines. The total absence of characterization and the mathematical simplicity of the text point up the fable's essential logic, leaving the reader to find parallel applications. Meanwhile, Henwood's sophisticated juxtapositions of yellow and bright sky blue with deeper blues and saturated reds and greens is unusually pleasing; appropriately, his stylized people play roles subordinate to the increasingly complex geometry of the houses and the pleasures of the patchwork-quilt landscape. A visually striking book with special appeal for budding philosophers. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.