Julia's House for Lost Creatures

A couple of years ago, I needed to buy a present for my niece, and I wanted that present to be a book. I didn’t (and still don’t) really know anything about kids books. Fortunately, around that time, I happened to read through a few Goodreads reviews written by the fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss. He gave a children’s book a glowing review. That book was Julia’s House for Lost Creatures. I bought it for my niece.She loved it.After she opened the present, she asked me to read it with her. She sat on my lap, and I read the book to her. The illustrations of fantastical creatures — some based on folklore, some original — fired up her imagination. I listened to her theories about ghost whales and goblins and monsters. Years later, it’s still my niece’s favorite book. She just did a project with it for second grade.I could go on about how the book is cool because it shows a young girl in charge, the importance of sharing chores, and non-violent problem-solving. But whatever. The really important thing is that my niece liked the present I got her. I thought maybe readers of this review might have children or need to get a present for a kid. If you do, I’d really encourage you to check out this book.

My daughter loves this. It's in her top 5 books and has been since we got it. We love pointing out all the creatures.Ben's style is fun and easy to read/embellish.My only question: what is the big purple guy with glowing eyes, and, what are the very small earth-elemental looking guys?

First found this book 4 years ago for grandson. He loved the story. So colorful and really full of adventure in Julias little house. We bought the book again for new grandchild when he was 2. Same response. Loved the different characters, the colors, the art work. His mom says he requests this every night. This is a wonderful book

The artwork is absolutely beautiful!! My 2 y.o. son loves this series and has requested all three be read before his nap and bedtime ever since we bought them last week. The story arc across the three books is captivating and emotional. While it may seem slightly pricey for the number of pages, trust me when I say that all three are worth it. There are so many details on each page! We are extremely happy with this purchase!

My son loves this book, and all the Ben Haite books. Yes, people complain about the mermaid - but it's not overtly sexual in nature. In his third book of this series, the mermaid wears a T-shirt. I'm not terribly worried about it and my son hasn't asked questions.The book and illustrations are cute, and the story is well written. This is a picture book, not a chapter book. Enjoy!

Story:4/5 starsSeller:3/5Story was cute, it was nice, but my 6 year old was not overly impressed, but did enjoy. I would say toddlers might love this more.On the seller- I would gladly buy this book again for the price listed, however, perhaps seller should've remove the 1.99 goodwill tag from it before shipping out to customers they charged 10$. Again, I would buy this again for the price, but leaving thr 1.99 goodwill sticker on it was tacky.

My daughters are 3 and 6, and Ben Hatke's books are recent discoveries in our house, and we picked this one up after raving success with "Nobody Likes a Goblin." "Julia's House for Lost Creatures" was instantly another favorite, we've read it dozens of times in the week since we got it, and it's here to stay. I love the beautiful illustrations and all the strange and wondrous creatures, but most of all I love Julia.Too many children's books have a protagonist who either doesn't know how to say "yes" or doesn't know how to say "no." Those in the first category are depicted as selfish and used to make points for teaching moments, those in the second are shown as kind and benevolent, but I love that Julia is both able to invite all the creatures to her house and also put her foot down when things aren't going right, figure out on her own how to solve the problem, and get things to work out so everyone's happy. Julia is the sort of spunky little girl I'd like to see in lots more stories.We'll definitely be looking for more picture books from Ben Hatke in the future.

Our family loves Julia's House for Lost Creatures. I'll say up front that it doesn't have quite as complete a plot as I'd like -- I think that there could have been more detail around the creatures' bad behavior and how it was affecting things before Julia just blows up at them -- but that's the only criticism I can offer. Hatke's drawings are an amazing combination of breathtaking and adorable, and just watching the various creatures pile into the house is an experience. We love how Julia is able to get everyone to use their strengths to help solve the problem. Her house is pretty neat, too. It's been a super bedtime story for our creative 6-year-old and a fun introduction (along with Nobody Likes a Goblin) to very interesting fantasy creatures.