Goodbye House

by Frank Asch

Bear is sad to bid farewell to his empty house, but he finds many happy memories to be treasured for the future in each vacant room

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Frank Asch is an American children's writer, best known for his Moonbear picture books.

Asch published his first picture book, George's Store, in 1968. The following year he graduated from Cooper Union with a BFA. Since then he has taught at a public school in India, as well as at a Montessori school in the United States, conducted numerous creative workshops for children. He has written over 60 books, including Turtle Tale, Mooncake, I Can Blink and Happy Birthday Moon. In 1989 he wrote Here Comes the Cat! in collaboration with Vladimir Vagin. The book was awarded the Russian National Book Award and was considered the first Russian-American collaboration on a children's book.

Asch lived in Somerville, New Jersey where he and his wife home-schooled their son Devin.

He currently lives in Vermont with his wife, Jan.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is such a shame that this book is out of print, because in our mobile world, children move so often, and this book offers adults an effective way to help children transition. It is great that some used copies are still circulating! A Bear Family takes their cub room-to-room, remembering the life of the house and saying goodbye to each room. Simple text accompanies drawings with 'just-enough' detail to help a child focus on the emotion in the story. This book is a treasure.

[Jordan Vinson]

"Goodbye House" is a very fun and engaging story. It is part of the moon bear books, which is a variety of stories that follow the same character. The story is simple yet very interesting for the younger ones. It has great illustrations. The book is about a bear who is sad to leave his old home but ends up finding ways to be happy with his new one.

Reading age: 5 - 6 years
Print length:32 pages
Lexile measure:AD480L

[Lupe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the message this book conveys is good especially for parents who are having a difficult time explaining a move to their young children, I did not care for the illustrations in the book. They are dull and not to eye catching.

[spookybelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

😭

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bear says goodbye to his old house and reminisces the many memories he has.

[Audrey Pollard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a boy moving and he has to go through all the rooms and say goodbye to the them and relives some of his favorite memories

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has to be the saddest, sweetest book I have ever read in my entire life. I never thought that I would relate to it so deeply until we finally moved. As we were packing up, I found this book in a stack of my old children's books to give away. Needless to say, this one was kept and worn from many reads. I cried pretty hard.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book to read before moving! I wasn't sure what to make of the open ended-ness to the book (where are they going next!?) but I think it makes it a more powerful story that way, as it focuses on the old house. This really captures what it feels like to move on a child's level.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure why my two year old daughter liked this book so much, but she did. We've never moved house before so I don't know if she understood the plot.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just before leaving with his family for the move to their new home, Little Bear says goodbye to all his favorite places in and around his old house.