A HOUSE IN THE WOODS

Everybody needs a house that's just right.

One Little Pig has a hut made out of sticks; it resembles a tepee. Next door, another Little Pig has a den; it's a hollow dug into some thick shrubbery. One morning, they go out foraging together; one finds a nice feather and the other an interesting stick. But when they get back home, they find Bear jammed into the den and Moose perched on top of the hut. Both are ruined! The new quartet of forest friends sits down together on a bench to figure a way out of this pickle. What if they all lived together in one big house? Moose calls the Beavers on the telephone (which is handily attached to a tree), and in no time the forest is turned into a construction site, with dozens of beavers in hard hats working alongside the housemates-to-be. They divide up the work and finish quickly, filling the house with furniture and curtains from the junkyard. What else is there left to do but throw a party for the Beavers? Moore's illustrations—in pencil, pastel and wash—picture the animals realistically (though on two legs and with expressively human body language) and have a warm cast, full of earth tones. They do the heavy lifting in telling the simple story of unlikely friendship and the virtue of industry.