A story about one of the world's great architects, written in a way kids will find easy to relate to and complimented by gorgeous illustrations

Carmen and the House That Gaudí Built by Susan Hughes (illustrated by Marianne Ferrer)

🏠 This is a gorgeously illustrated fictional story about the real Batlló house in Barcelona. The story is about a little girl who loves nature and is worried about her family’s upcoming move from the country to the city. She knows she will hate living in the city with nothing but grey and concrete surrounding her. But Gaudí designs a remarkable house that has few straight lines and includes objects and colors that emulate natural surroundings. The roof even looks like a dragon! The little girl is pleased.

🏠 This story will teach children about accepting change and trusting others. It shows that not everything is always as it seems and that we can incorporate the things we love into our lives in creative ways.

🏠 The best thing about this book in my opinion is how it made me want to learn more - more about Gaudí himself and more about this building in particular - and hopefully it will encourage children to want to learn more too. (Look up Casa Batlló on Wikipedia for some stunning photos of this remarkable building.)

🏠 This book is written for children ages 4 to 8 years old and is 32 pages long.

Thank you @netgalley and @Owlkidspublishing for a free eARC of this book, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This is a really gorgeous book that gives an interesting and fun interpretation of how Antoni Gaudi came to design and build Casa Batlló in Barcelona. The story is told from the perspective of Carmen, the youngest daughter of the Batlló family, who does not want to move to the city; she wants to stay in their house in her beloved wild woods, where her imaginary friend lives, a salamander named dragon. Once she meets Gaudi and sees how he uses nature as inspiration in his work, she starts to come around, and is pleasantly surprised when the family finally moves into the house. The artwork is just beautiful throughout, and captures the flavor of Gaudi's work if not exactly duplicating it, and the text is an engaging story. An author's note follows with information about Gaudi, and an exterior photo of the real Casa Batlló. A good starting point for introducing Gaudi to children.

#CarmenandtheHouseThatGaudíBuilt #NetGalley

Beautifully composed with amazing illustrations, this picture book is an homage to the round, undulating forms of Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudi, What a this delightful way to introduce a bit of art history to young readers! Young Carmen is sad to leave the lush countryside for a new modern house in the "gray, straight, stiff city," a place where her invisible pet salamander Dragon would never fit. But, Carmen is in for a welcome surprise! #NetGalley

This book imagines communications between realife architect Antoni Gaudi and the youngest member of the Batllo family as he redesigned the family’s now famous spanish house. This story was simply lovely. It gets the readers interested in the house itself, and proposes a fun theory for why certain elements look as they do. Overall this book was excellent and had this reader running to google to see more.

Carmen and the House that Gaudi Built is a story about the infamous architect and the re-imagined muse of the Casa Batlló. The concept is a bit eclectic, much like Antoni Gaudi himself. However, the architect making the child feel welcome in an unknown city is a nice one. I think it would be a pleasant bed time story.

'Carmen and the House That Gaudi Built' by Susan Hughes with illustrations by Marianne Ferrer is about a little girl, her imaginary friend, and the new house she has to move in to.

Carmen Batlló's family is getting a new house in Barcelona designed by Antonio Gaudi. Carmen is sad because there my be know room for her imaginary friend, a large salamander. Her family meets with the family and soon the beautiful home is built. Perhaps the needs of a little girl inspired what was built into the roofline.

I liked this fictional story about a real place. It's an interesting story and includes pictures of the real house. The illustrations are very nice.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Owlkids Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

I loved the illustrations of Carmen and The House That Gaudi Built but felt the story a bit confusing. I almost wish that we had been told about Gaudi in Barcelona at the beginning of the book. But wow, what STUNNING illustrations that really capture the work and feeling of Gaudi's art.

I'm a big fan of Gaudi's work since I visited Barcelona, and this was a fascinating look into his process in creating the gorgeous house. I liked that it was from Carmen's perspective instead of Gaudi himself. It provided that extra point of child interest. I would've loved looking at the pictures especially as a child.

I don't believe I'd heard of Gaudi before this book. My knowledge isn't especially clear now. Because this isn't really a book about Gaudi or his work. It's a speculation about what might have influenced a house he designed. Sort of cute, but one with limited usage.

Carmen has to move away to the city and she is very sad she can't bring her imaginary giant salamander. However, a unique artist is building her new home, and he takes a lot of inspiration from nature. This was a sweet story that introduces children to Gaudi's architectural design. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and it definitely made me more interested in learning more about Gaudi.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

A very unique title telling the story about an actual house that Gaudi built. I loved the illustrations, and I think would be great for anyone who loves the arts and wants to share that love with their children.

I received an electronic ARC from Owlkids Books through NetGalley.
Readers join Carmen in exploring the new home the architect Antoni Gaudi built for her family. Though the story is fiction, the home is real - Casa Batlio in Barcelona, Spain. Hughes introduces elementary level readers to this architect's unique and creative designs through dialogue and pictures. Carmen does not want to move to the city and leave her woods and imaginary pet salamander, Dragon, behind. However, when she sees the design and then gets to watch as the house is built, she realizes that Gaudi captures the joy she feels in the woods.
Lovely way to introduce Gaudi's work to a younger audience. Informative text at the end shares more about this architect.

A wonderful, fantastic telling of the singular Spanish Architect Antoni Gaudi and his renovation of the Battlo home.

"A joyful celebration of the nature-inspired work of architect Antoni Gaud.

Carmen Batll and Dragon, her imaginary salamander friend, love exploring the woods behind their home. But when Carmen's family announces a move to the city, Carmen is miserable. Not only will she lose her connection to nature, she will also lose Dragon. After all, the city is no place for salamanders.

As she watches her family's new house take shape under famous architect Antoni Gaud, Carmen discovers Gaud also has a passion for the natural world. Walls curve and rise like a cave, mosaic flooring sparkles like lilies on a pond, and a fireplace shaped like a mushroom keeps the house warm. Best of all, there's even a place for Dragon

Inspired by the real Batll family and the house Gaud designed for them, this picture book encourages readers to find inspiration in their surroundings and keep their hearts open to change. Stunning watercolor illustrations bring Gaud 's inventive designs to life. An author's note provides more information about the real story behind the house and Gaud 's lifelong passion for nature."

I love it when artists are celebrated by other artists in other mediums, it's just so much artistic love!

I visited Barcelona for few days, and I loved seeing the architecture of Gaudi; I've wanted to go back ever since.

This little picture book is primarily about Carmen and her fear of moving to the city, leaving behind her "dragon" friend. The house her family moves to is one Gaudi designed based on his love of nature. My eyes enjoyed every moment of this book--it was beautiful. There is a photo of the real-life house at the end. Someday, I will see it again.

A wonderful glimpse into the style of Antoni Gaudí. Carmen's parents just bought a house in the city and have hired Gaudí to renovate it in his unique, nature-inspired style. Carmen herself doesn't want to leave their country property behind, with its abundance of hollow and hills to get lost in--not to mention her best imaginary friend Salamander (a dragon). But as she slowly learns, Gaudí is not wanting to build a grey, straight, stiff city house, but rather one that might just remind her of her favorite nature spots and friends.

Art Nouveau (and its various offshoots, pun intended) is one of my absolute favorite styles of art, especially when it flows over into architecture. Gaudí's work has slowly crept up on my radar over the past few years, and I adore his seemingly abstract, wavy, curvy, and just slightly surreal style. The Batlló House is the work that this book focuses on, and while I never really got the same stylistic feeling of Gaudí from the illustrations, the color palette and general curvy line work were gorgeous nonetheless and captured a brightness that I'm sure Gaudí would have appreciated. There is a brief but super informative fact page at the end of the book talking about the house as well as providing a full page picture of it.

Not only was this a fun intro to Gaudí and the Nouveau style, but it also deeply resonated with me, as someone who has also moved away from a wonderful rural area with tons of exploration space to a city where there simply isn't that same type of exploration to be had. Carmen was very fortunate that such a wonderful architect designed the house that echoed nature so beautifully!

A cute and illustrative look at Gaudi's nature-inspired approach to architecture. The art is beautiful and the story is short enough to use a story-time read-aloud, though the story might be too long for toddlers. Recommended for libraries with a large and popular picture book section.

This lavishly illustrated title will be enjoyed by adults as well as children. It tells the story of a house that was designed by the famous architect, Gaudi. His unique artistic vision is explored through the story of Carmen, a child who at first did not want to move to her parents’ new home. What changed her mind? Enjoy this story as you find out!

Note: The book ends with an author’s note that lets readers know more about Gaudi.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

Beautifully illustrated design and an optimistic and cute story about a Spanish little girl and the process of adapting and moving on. Kids will enjoy this one.