Reviews

Carmen and the House That Gaudí Built by Marianne Ferrer, Susan Hughes

geekwayne's review against another edition

4.0

'Carmen and the House That Gaudi Built' by Susan Hughes with illustrations by Marianne Ferrer is about a little girl, her imaginary friend, and the new house she has to move in to.

Carmen Batlló's family is getting a new house in Barcelona designed by Antonio Gaudi. Carmen is sad because there my be know room for her imaginary friend, a large salamander. Her family meets with the family and soon the beautiful home is built. Perhaps the needs of a little girl inspired what was built into the roofline.

I liked this fictional story about a real place. It's an interesting story and includes pictures of the real house. The illustrations are very nice.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Owlkids Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

annetjeberg's review against another edition

4.0

Great introduction into Gaudi as an artist and architect.

Historical fiction, set in reality. Wonderfully crafted. Kids liked it.

beths0103's review against another edition

5.0

A fictional story based on fact, revolving around the work of the famous and beloved architect Antoni Gaudi.

kindredbooks's review against another edition

4.0

I received a copy of Carmen and the House That Gaudí Built by Susan Hughes and illustrated by Marianne Ferrer from Susan Hughes and Owlkids Books in exchange for an honest review.

This picture book is inspired by Casa Batlló, Antoni Gaudí and the family that hired him to remodel the house. In this story, young Carmen is unhappy as her parents have bought a house in the city that they are remodeling with the help of the architect Antoni Gaudí. Carmen could not be less interested as she loves her home and her adventures out in the woods with her imaginary friend, Dragon. But on a visit to Casa Batlló, Carmen is amazed by the house being built as it has elements that reflect the nature that she loves. As time progresses and the house comes together, Carmen finds that she is fascinated by what Gaudí is doing - and he seems to see the world the way she does.

I really enjoyed reading this story and seeing the fantastical elements of Casa Batlló come to life in this story through the eyes of a young child. It's a story about nature, architect, and embracing change. 

readersreadingnook's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

anneke_b's review against another edition

4.0

Great introduction into Gaudi as an artist and architect.

Historical fiction, set in reality. Wonderfully crafted. Kids liked it.

ljrinaldi's review against another edition

4.0

This is an interesting way to explain the architecture of a very cool building in Barcelona that was designed by Antoni Gaudi. This is like a building built by someone on drugs, but no, this is the sort of architecture buildings that Gaudi designed and built.

The house has no sharp corners. There even seems to be a dragon on the roof.

So, to explain this house, this picture book imagines that the daughter of the man who asked Gaudi to build the house, influenced him.

To me, it was more interesting to see the results and the information we do have about Guadi, though no one knows why he did what he did.

The house is UNESCO World Heritage site, and is known as the Casa Batllo.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

kittykult's review against another edition

4.0

Carmen has to move away to the city and she is very sad she can't bring her imaginary giant salamander. However, a unique artist is building her new home, and he takes a lot of inspiration from nature. This was a sweet story that introduces children to Gaudi's architectural design. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and it definitely made me more interested in learning more about Gaudi.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

libraryjen's review against another edition

4.0

Gorgeously illustrated, this book tells the story of a young girl named Carmen who loves the woods and is afraid to move to the big city. A nice group read aloud, it fits a story time theme of feelings, bravery, houses, family, or nature. Kids will enjoy the fantasy of Carmen and her dragon/salamander and adults will appreciate the author's note at the end explaining how the story is based in true events. Don't miss the picture of the actual Casa Batllo in Barcelona in the back of the book!

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

graypeape's review against another edition

5.0

This is a really gorgeous book that gives an interesting and fun interpretation of how Antoni Gaudi came to design and build Casa Batlló in Barcelona. The story is told from the perspective of Carmen, the youngest daughter of the Batlló family, who does not want to move to the city; she wants to stay in their house in her beloved wild woods, where her imaginary friend lives, a salamander named dragon. Once she meets Gaudi and sees how he uses nature as inspiration in his work, she starts to come around, and is pleasantly surprised when the family finally moves into the house. The artwork is just beautiful throughout, and captures the flavor of Gaudi's work if not exactly duplicating it, and the text is an engaging story. An author's note follows with information about Gaudi, and an exterior photo of the real Casa Batlló. A good starting point for introducing Gaudi to children.

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