Summertime Explorations

What could be better than spending the summer with Grandma and your cousin? Cousins are really our first friends. In The House at the End of the Road by Kari Rust, three cousins spend a summer of discovery.

Exploring on Grandma’s three old bikes fills most days for Robert and his cousins.  One day they come across a creepy looking house. It’s old, run down and almost looks haunted.  A tiny bit of troublemaking leads to a summer spent discovering with Old Man Peterson.

The House at the End of the Road by Kari Rust is a lovely inter generational story about how first impressions are not always correct and how appearances can sometime be deceiving.  I was really drawn to the character of Robert. Kari Rust subtly lets us know that Robert perhaps has a tricky home life since he spends a lot of time at Grandma’s. We also see him become emotional at times which I know a lot of children will identify with. I loved that she wrote Robert with these characteristics but didn’t overtly call him a bad kid or say he had a sad life. She just provides some food for thought and visibility for children who may find themselves in a similar situation. The intergenerational story line fosters empathy and shows the reader that so much can be learned from our grandparents and older neighbours.

Kari Rust’s illustrations are incredible.  In, let’s call it, a beginners look at a graphic story or a pre-comic book The House at the End of the Road will appeal to both older and younger readers. The Bee and I shared this book a number of times together and each time she kept telling me it was her favourite book. Thank you so much to OwlKids for the first look at this sure to be a fall favourite.