cover image Victoria House

Victoria House

Janice Shefelman. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P, $12.95 (30pp) ISBN 978-0-15-200630-3

When 360 acres of land are sold for a new housing development, Victoria House, which stands on that land, seems destined for the wrecking ball. But the architect of the development, Sarah, wants to move Victoria House to a city lot and restore it. Readers follow the dismantling of the house (it's split right in two, upstairs and downstairs), the loading of it onto trucks and the trip into town. By the time Sarah's son Mason unpacks his toys in the attic of Victoria House, it has been lovingly restored to its former glory. The details of this processdivision into parts and assembly into a wholeare clearly set forth, without being bogged down in technicalities; both Shefelmans create images that will appease any reader's curiosity about a complicated procedure and its rewarding end. Ages 4-8. (September)