The door that had never been open before / Mrs. & Mr. MacLeod.

Title :

The door that had never been open before

Format:

Books

Summary:

The Grunions' house had many doors. But there was one door, that had never been opened before! The door that had never been opened before was built closed shut, locked tight, and never opened for a reason. A reason that nobody knew. Geraldine opened every door she ever found. Geraldine opened every door and went everywhere and met everyone and did everything. Everything, except one thing. Geraldine had never opened the Door that had never been opened before...not yet!

Language:

English

Audience:

Ages 3-8. Union Square Kids.

ISBN - ISSN:

9781454945451

1454945451

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 29 cm.

Subject:

Siblings -- Juvenile fiction.

Siblings -- Fiction.

Picture books.

First Title value, for Searching:

The door that had never been open before / Mrs. & Mr. MacLeod.

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Summary

Mrs. & Mr. MacLeod, authors of the award-winning How to Eat a Book , present a whimsical, thought-provoking picture book about coming face-to-face with the unknown. Beautifully illustrated and lyrically written, The Door That Had Never Been Opened Before has strong read-aloud appeal for families, libraries, booksellers, and educators.

The Grunions' house had many doors. But there was one door, that had never been opened before!

The door that had never been opened before was built closed shut, locked tight, and never opened for a reason. A reason that nobody knew.

Geraldine opened every door she ever found. Geraldine opened every door and went everywhere and met everyone and did EVERYTHING. Everything, except ONE THING. Geraldine had never opened the Door that had NEVER been opened before . . . NOT yet!

The Door That Had Never Been Opened Before is a contemporary look at a timeless question--with hints of Shel Silverstein and a smattering of Edward Gorey. Fantastically illustrated with dipped pen-and-ink cutout art, photographed in a three-dimensional stage diorama and hand-colored, this children's picture book is a HIT from the talented Mrs. & Mr. MacLeod.

Hardcover picture book; 48 pages; 8.5 x 10.9 in.

Author Notes

Mrs. & Mr. MacLeod are an award-winning, critically acclaimed author and illustrator team living with their five children in California. Their debut picture book, How to Eat a Book , won the Barnes & Noble Picture Book of the Year Award in 2023.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Working in hand-colored and photographed dioramas, the MacLeods offer up a new papercraft adventure for the Grunion cousins of How to Eat a Book, set again in a sprawling family home. The children, whose skin tones reflect the white of the page, are obsessed with a huge, and very locked, red door: inquisitive Shelia sees a puzzle to be solved, apprehensive Gerald is sure it must stay shut, and busy Geraldine intuits another new experience to enjoy. When the door finally opens--through a combination of tenacity, Great Grandma's hammer, and a withheld key--the book's pages reveal The Land of Never Before, a door-studded realm that "kept GROWING." Exuberant graphics and an abrupt ending threaten to overwhelm the story, but the characters' irrepressible energy turbocharges the action as well as the title's underlying message about championing discovery. Ages 3--8. (Feb.)

Kirkus Review

A door that remains stubbornly closed challenges three children to take extreme measures. Fresh from demonstrating How To Eat a Book (2022), the three Grunion children, all of whom have skin the white of the page--persistent Sheila, her cousin Gerald (who has a secret), and his hot-tempered twin, Geraldine--return to tackle the one locked door in their many, many-doored house. Making metaphorical if not literal sense, their fruitless assaults culminate at last in a tussle over a hammer that puts a crack in the door, through which a vine shoots to fill up the house completely. But, it turns out, the key has been stuck to Gerald's sole (soul?) all along, and when the frantic children open the door to escape, an ever-expanding "Land of Never Before" (the future, get it?) is revealed to entice them onward. Grown-ups, at least, will appreciate the artful symbolism, but younger audiences are more likely to take the wild rumpus so engagingly captured in the distinctive illustrations more to heart. Composed in heavy unfilled lines on paper cutouts floating in low-relief layers with shadows left visible, the pictures brim with life and give convincing depth to the house's high-ceilinged rooms and narrow halls. The rhythmic, occasionally rhymed narrative's free-wheeling typography adds verbal drama to the visual ruckus, to boot. A lock for enthusiastic responses and demands for repeat performances. (Picture book. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Geraldine Grunion; her twin brother, Gerald; and their cousin Sheila live in an enormous old house. With Great Grandma's expressive portrait overseeing them, the children explore the building's many floors and doors. One door, which had never been opened before, persistently entices Geraldine and Sheila, while Gerald works equally hard to keep it shut. As in the MacLeods' earlier title, How to Eat a Book (2022), the illustrations are made from cutouts arranged on backgrounds like stage sets or a dollhouse. The three-dimensional energy makes the images ping around as if they really might burst out of the confines of the pages. The visuals perfectly suit the theme of the book as Sheila and Geraldine push at the door's boundaries and Gerald tries to keep everything contained. When at last the door is opened, physical and metaphorical growth occurs, and the time is right for the children to venture into a new place. The portrait contains visual clues that suggest Great Grandma knew what she was doing all along.