The House That Crack Built
Author: Clark Taylor
Illustrator: Jan Thompson Dicks
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Date of Publication: 1992
Format: Softcover
Page Count: 40 Pages
Cost: $6.95
ISBN: 0-8118-0123-3
Reading Level: Ages 8 to 11
Plot Summary: This picture book tells the story of the widespread negative effects of drug use through a rewrite of the popular children’s rhyme, ‘The House That Jack Built’. The house that crack built is actually a large and isolated mansion, where a drug lord is guarded by armed soldiers who police the farmers tending the plants that will later be turned into cocaine. Meanwhile, in the town, gang violence is rampant and a young mother chooses to numb her pain with drugs rather than feed her starving child. An afterword from the author talks about making good choices in the fight against drugs.
Evaluation: The biggest difficulty with this book is probably marketing it towards the correct age group. The bold illustrations paired with sparse text might appear at first to be appropriate for picture book readers, but in fact this book is meant for students in late elementary school and up. Both chilling and unforgettable, this book would make an excellent supplement to a drug education program. It shows rather than tells how the choices we make have a powerful effect on other people.
Annotation: Cumulative verses describe the far-reaching devastation caused by crack cocaine.
Links:
Reading Guide for The House That Crack Built
Related Reads:
The Inner City Mother Goose by Eve Merriam
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Smoky Night by Eve Bunting
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
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