The House on Pleasant Street by Sofie Laguna and Marc McBride

Title: The House on Pleasant Street

Author: Sofie Laguna and Marc McBride

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 30^th August 2022

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 32

Price: $19.99

Synopsis: A spooky, exuberantly funny and hugely entertaining book about a boy who is having trouble making friends in his new neighbourhood… From bestselling author Sofie Laguna. Perfect for Halloween reading!

Alby and his family are new on Pleasant Street. Their house is perfect, with a great tree to climb, and a pool. Their pet, Delia, is still in training, but she’s settling in just fine.

And tonight is Halloween – Alby’s favourite night of the year – so ANYTHING could happen…

A hilarious story about family and friendship, and what happens when trick-or-treating doesn’t go to plan.

~*~

Alby lives on Pleasant Street in a spooky house that towers above everyone else’s house, with a great tree for climbing. Except, Alby’s house is a bit spooky, and since moving into the new house and neighbourhood, he’s had trouble making friends. Now, it is Halloween and Alby is determined to have a normal time p- a good time, without his pet dragon, Delia, making trouble, or his father, a vampire, telling his embarrassing jokes. Alby sets off trick or treating, determined for things to be normal – as normal as they can be, but Alby will find out that when things don’t go to plan, sometimes this has the best results.

Using the backdrop of Halloween and trick or treating, Sofie has created a new story about family, friendship, and the fun we can find in our own lives. It illustrates that it is what is unique about us that makes us special and can help us connect with people. Where Alby just wants a normal, everyday life at times, with friends, and wishes he had time to just be a regular kid, it is precisely the differences that help unite Alby with his new friends, and his father’s idiosyncrasies that make people take notice, even if it is in ways that Alby doesn’t really like.

Sofie’s simple yet evocative story is accompanied by the lifelike and almost three-dimensional illustrations by Marc McBride. They’re colourful and lifelike – so lifelike, it feels like you can reach out and touch or physically grab the images and people within them. This makes them engaging and fun as they dance off the page and engage delightfully with the words. When the images and words work together, they bring the story to life in an invigorating and delightful way that will entrance readers of all ages and help to reinforce the story’s message about family and friendship.

Whilst the core story is about a young boy’s Halloween experience, I believe the more important things about family and friendship, and acceptance, are what really shine through, giving readers a chance to see relatable experiences for many written about and experienced by the main character, Alby. Alby as I said before just wants to fit in with everyone else. He wants friends – like any kid, and I think the simple language perfectly captures Alby, his character, and his desires, and the lessons that he learns about making friends, family, and accepting everyone for who they are, even if they can be a bit embarrassing at times like Alby’s father can be.

It is a delightful and fun picture book that everyone can get something out of, even if it is simply to enjoy a good story, and I think it will be much loved, as this pair have come up with some fabulous things in the past. I loved the illustrations and the house that was at the top of a tree, and loved that even though the illustrations showed some uncertainty for some people, it was a normal thing for a different, quite unusual house and proves that in the end, we fit into the world in our own way, and not in the way other people want us to.