The House at the End of the Road

by Kari Rust

Overview

One summer, while exploring the town during their annual stay at Grandma’s house, two siblings and their cousin come across a creepy old house. The kids poke around, one of them causing mischief and tossing rocks at the window, until they glimpse a ghost through the glass! Later, Grandma reveals the house doesn’t belong to a ghost—just old Mr. Peterson.



After visiting again with better intentions, the kids discover Mr. Peterson’s great sense of humor and that his house is full of fascinating things: old toys, photographs, even a film projector. They become regular visitors, until one day, Mr. Peterson is gone: he has left for a retirement home, and his house sits empty. Using odds, ends, and gifts he gave them, the kids create mementos of Mr. Peterson’s home to give back to him.



Full of heart, this picture book incorporates graphic novel elements to tell a layered and moving story about an intergenerational friendship. It shows how appearances can be deceiving: sometimes the best adventure awaits where you least expect it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771473354
Publisher:	Owlkids Books
Publication date:	09/17/2019
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	807,706
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.75(h) x (d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

KARI RUST is an author/illustrator with a background in character animation and design. Also the creator of the OLA Blue Spruce Award nominee Tricky, Kari is a graduate of Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Editorial Reviews

09/23/2019

When Patrick and his sister, the narrator, arrive for a summer stay with their grandmother, their rambunctious cousin Robert shows them a spooky old Victorian house and shies a rock at an upper window. (“I don’t think Robert really wanted to break the glass,” the girl says loyally.) An elderly man’s face appears at the window, frightening the children. But he’s no ghost, and their grandmother knows him: “Mr. Peterson had been Grandma’s favorite teacher when she was a girl.” With Grandma’s introduction to smooth the way, a visit to the house (“It was full of fascinating things. Each one had a story”) leads to a friendship with Mr. Peterson. Angular, shadowy illustrations by Rust (Tricky) dwell on treasures such as wind-up toys, a home movie projector, and a basement full of preserved food in jars. And when Mr. Peterson takes ill and is moved to a retirement home, it is Robert who sees to the work of documenting Mr. Peterson’s home. Rust weaves themes of open-mindedness, intergenerational community, and generosity through the story as the children use the distinctive gifts Mr. Peterson has given each of them to make him something special in return. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"This delightful excursion into multi-generational relationships is a really refreshing look at how young people can find meaningful friendships with people of other generations."

School Library Connection

"Not only a story of friendship bridging the generational divide, but it’s also a nostalgic recollection of the way summertime punctuates a childhood."

Canadian Review of Materials

"The first-person narrative makes for a very personal telling, and their story is packed with suspense, detail and warmth."

Sal's Fiction Addiction

"The comics-inspired format and sensitive themes about looking deeply, questioning assumptions, and finding beauty everywhere make this memorable."

The Horn Book

"A great book to teach empathy, kindness, and neighborly love."

Booklist

"A great book to teach empathy, kindness, and neighborly love."

Booklist

09/06/2019

K-Gr 2-One day while out exploring on their bikes, three cousins venture close to a rickety old house and encounter what they think is a ghost. The ghost, they later learn, is Mr. Peterson, their grandmother's teacher and friend, and he isn't nearly as scary as they first imagined. With their grandmother's encouragement, the cousins build a wonderful friendship over the summer. Before the three return home in the fall, Mr. Peterson is moved to a nursing home, and his house is unceremoniously emptied of all his marvelous things. The children salvage a box full of photos, drawings, and seeds and clippings for their grandmother to take to Mr. Peterson and the story closes with all three planning to return next summer to visit. The kids are a curious and mischievous bunch and the pages are filled with golden summer light that gives each page a nostalgic feel. Many pages are divided into multiple panels, which allows them to capture each perfect scene and facial expression. Images of the interior of Mr. Peterson's house are filled with delicate sketches of many eclectic items such as a full skeleton, a rotary phone, an old sewing machine. The text is written from the perspective of one of the cousins, with some added dialogue shared through speech bubbles, and this approach makes the story feel honest and true. Mr. Peterson, despite the cousins' first impression, is generous with his time and able to recognize and nurture each of the cousin's individual talents, and their gifts to him on their departure are proof that their time together was meaningful. The message that it is necessary to look past appearances is one that is sure to resonate with parents and caregivers. VERDICT A sweet intergenerational story with gorgeous illustrations. The message that it is necessary to look past first appearances is one that is sure to resonate with parents and caregivers.-Laken Hottle, Providence Community Library, RI

School Library Journal

2019-07-24
Three cousins come upon an old house and find something they never expected.

It's summer vacation, so Patrick and his sibling, the narrator, take the bus as they always do to visit Grandma; their rambunctious cousin Robert is already there. The trio gathers Grandma's old bikes to cycle around town, eventually coming across a dilapidated house. They decide to get closer. Robert dares to throw a rock at one of the windows. A spooky ghost face appears! The kids high-tail it off the property, Patrick jumping on behind the narrator and accidentally leaving his bike behind. When Grandma finds out what happened, she takes them all back to the house to apologize. The kids learn that the figure in the window wasn't a ghost at all but a person. In fact, they may have all just made a new friend. Related in the unnamed sibling's first-person, past-tense narration, this Canadian import is ultimately a sweet story of intergenerational friendship. The comic-book-panel layout, coupled with Rust's mixed-media cartoon illustrations, gives a cinematic quality that builds suspense with each page turn. Speech bubbles provide additional details to the account, which reads like a reminiscence, through sparse dialogue. The colors, switching from bright and summery to spookily desaturated, evoke emotion. While the red-haired, freckled narrator character presents white, the others have darker, more ambiguous coloring.

Quiet and reflective, as fleeting as summertime itself. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

Read More