Author(s): Inese Zandere

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A universal story about compromise and collaboration for young readers

Raven, Crayfish and Horse have always been best friends. They're grown up now and would like to start a family. They want all their families to live together and start planning to build a house. But what should that house look like? Will they find a solution that works for all of them?

Juris Petraškevi?s’ arresting gauche acrylic paintings sit delightfully on the pages of fellow Latvian Inese Zandere’s One House for All. They immediately draw your attention with their bright colours and zany energy enhancing this simple story about three friends and a problem they have. Horse, Raven and Crayfish are friends. They have enjoyed each other’s company throughout their youth, but now are ready for the next adventure in life. They want to settle down, get married and have families. Sitting beside the river, they consider the perfect house - a place where they can all live. Each friend takes his turn in describing what they should build. For Horse, there has to be a meadow. “It should have a large, green living room with juicy grass.” Raven designs a house high in a tree. And Crayfish, underwater: “a wide door leading down to a long passage three claw spans under the water.” Alas, none of the houses suit all of the friends. Maybe they shouldn’t marry at all! Just as they are despairing, contemplating giving up either their futures or their friendship, Crayfish comes up with a solution that pleases everyone.

The illustrations make this book sing. They are wonderfully naive and the colours are vibrant creating a luscious forest backdrop, trees hot orange and verdant green, flowers friendly triffid-like creations, and a rich blue river teeming with life. The friends are all charming - Horse standing up on his hind legs - gentle and innocent; Crayfish rather dapper in his suit jacket and bowtie; and Raven with his perky cap. There is plenty of humour in the pictures as they play out each character’s imagination and thinking. Horse, imagining his grassy living room, mows the lawn. Raven’s house high in the branches of the trees has a chimney with smoke gently wafting from it. Fish swim by and fireflies flitter across the pages.

One House for All is a simple story with a big heart, a story about friendship. Despite their differences, Horse, Raven and Crayfish are determined to remain close, even when their needs and desires vary greatly. It’s a tale of how co-operation, compromise and consideration can help us live together harmoniously.  “And in the evenings, they all sat together by the river, swinging their legs: two legs if they were ravens, four legs if they were horses, and lots of legs if they were crayfish.”

{STELLA}