A House That Once Was

樹林深處的廢棄小屋裡，那破舊的鏡子、被遺忘的照片，曾是誰的擁有？
把這些陳舊拼湊在一起，會看到什麼樣的過去呢？
 
樹林深處有一棟房子，
就只是一棟房子而已。
它曾經是個家，但現在不是，
誰曾經住在這裡？誰曾經走下這個走廊？
為什麼他們選擇離開？
他們又去了哪裡？
 
一座廢棄小屋召喚著兩個孩子，兩個小小探險者發現了許多物品，他們想著：「誰照過這面鏡子？」「誰在這把椅子上打盹過？」遺留的書籍、被遺忘的照片、丟棄的玩具都被聚在一起，為他們的問題拼湊答案。
 
繪者細膩的插圖，以不同的處理方式將現在的房子與想像中的房子分開描繪，房屋現況以墨線繪製，顯得有點褪色又神秘，想像中的房子則以明亮的色彩呈現，讓文字與藝術交織在一起，帶領讀者在探索這座小屋的同時發揮想像力，值得一讀。（文 / 博客來編譯）
 
The dynamic duo of Ezra Jack Keats Award–winning author Julie Fogliano and Caldecott Award–winning illustrator Lane Smith team up to tell a delightful story about a boy and a girl who explore an abandoned house and imagine who might have lived there in A House That Once Was.

Deep in the woods
is a house
just a house
that once was
but now isn’t 
a home.

Who lived in that house? Who walked down its hallways? Why did they leave it, and where did they go?
Two children set off to find the answers, piecing together clues found, books left behind, forgotten photos, discarded toys, and creating their own vision of those who came before.