The Little Blue Cottage

I highly recommend. A charming book to share with the children you love or to just keep to yourself! Perhaps it will awaken a lost memory in your heart of a once loved cottage.

Our family goes to the same little beach each summer. In fact, I've been coming here with my family since I was a baby, my husband and I were married here, and our dog is named after it! Needless to say, it's an important place in my heart and a part of who I am. When I first saw The Little Blue Cottage by Kelly Jordan, illustrated by Jessica Courtney-Tickle, I knew we were going to need to give this book a permanent spot in our home library...⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀And it didn't disappoint! We've read The Little Blue Cottage over and over and over again since receiving it a few weeks ago; my girls just can't get enough! And, since the love of this little blue cottage by the beach rings true to my heart, I don't mind reading this one on repeat!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀The Little Blue Cottage is a beautifully illustrated story of a girl who spends her summer, every summer, in the same little blue cottage by the sea. Through the first half of the story, we watch the little girl grow up over her summers at the cottage, and we experience the love and happiness in her family while we watch them over time.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Though the girl is the main character, the cottage is a valuable secondary character, experiencing feelings of loss and loneliness when all of the sudden, the girl doesn't show up for the summer any more. The cottage falls into disarray and readers wonder what has happened to the little girl and her family. Never to fear, though, everything wraps up nicely in the end! The main characters in the book comprise 2 multiracial families (the main character's childhood family and intergenerational married family).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀If you liked this, you might also like:* The Little House by Burton* Wherever You Go by Miller, illustrated by Wheeler* Miss Rumphius by Cooney* Roxaboxen by McLerran, illustrated by Cooney* Fireflies by Brinckloe

I wasn't impressed with this book the first time through. I had read the reviews and was perhaps expecting to be very moved. I wasn't. Probably because I really was struck by the faces of the characters as very much resembling Pac-Man from the early video games, which I never liked. There was so much details in the drawings, I wondered why the faces were so plain. But after reading the book again, I looked past this detail, and I realized that when the girl returned to the house with her husband, baby and her father, that her mom was missing. I think this is more of a story of making happy memories, and then when life challenges come calling, you take that challenge and take care of things that you need too. The girl had grown up and married, had a child, and her mom was now gone. Could she not go to the cottage because she was faithfully tending to a sick and dying mother? What tragedy had struck we are not told - but something happened in that span of time. Not just that the girl was too busy and did not have time for the cottage, but that there were other things more important that she and her family needed to tend to. AND YET, when time had passed, and healing had taken place, the girl and her family (though different now) journeyed again to their much loved place and began making new memories. And that is the beautiful story of this book - that even when life's hardest times hit and stop us from doing or being what we would like, we can one day find healing and take joy in living life to the fullest again.

This book is charming and will be a valued part of our preschool library.

A wonderful coming of age book for littles.

Love how this book takes you to a special place! Makes you want your own Little Blue Cottage by the shore! It reminds me of some of Robert McCloskeys work! ❤️

Beautiful told story of a girl and her childhood cottage. This story will remind anyone of fond memories of family, summer vacations. Especially if there is a special place involved. The soft, warm, inviting illustrations pair well with the words, which together sweep you away to a place of peace and harmony. This is an easy reading book, but you'll read it slowly as you feel a wave of decompression wash over you. A great book to have and keep in the family. A great book for older siblings to share with younger ones. Also, a wonderful reminder that love is blind.

Oh my word! This has to be one of the sweetest books I've ever read! If anyone has a special place they visit summer after summer, this book is for you! My husband's family has a camp that he visited often as a child. Now we are taking our children there. This book now has a special spot in the camp so we can snuggle up and read it every time we visit.

Firstly the illustrations are just insanely beautiful, but the story is very very beautifully written to and has a real sense of nostalgia.I had to stop myself from crying when I read it aloud for the first time, I it’s a favourite of both my children.

This book was purchased for my 6 year old granddaughter. She loved it and so did her little 3 year old brother. Lovely illustrations. It’s been re-read many times.

A gorgeously illustrated picture book that truly transports you back to hazy summer memories. Wonderful story! An utter triumph!

I have literally cried for the first time I have read it. Each time I read it for my little one, she asks me "where is the girl ?"

Très jolie histoire, pleine de poésie, servie par les illustrations de Jessica Courtney Tickle...