The Little Blue Cottage

When a picture book makes both you AND your husband tear up, you know it's a keeper. Perhaps my ten-year-old son said it best: "This is such a sweet story, it almost made me cry! I love the little girl's relationship with the cottage. And the pictures are beautiful!" Lyrical, poignant, timeless, relatable...there is magic in this book. Buy it.

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.

Wasn’t anything special.... the rhyming went in and out and the story was just ok....

I’d say pass on this one - maybe take it out at the library

This story is so beautiful, nostalgic, sweet, and full of love. My kids (aged 7, 6, 5, 3) ALL loved it. My 5 year old especially keeps pulling this off the shelf and asking for it. It's truly lovely.

This brings back so much nostalgia of going to the coast each summer as a child. Now I take my own kids, and it's their favorite place to visit. This book captures those sentiments so well, and the illustrations are simply stunning!

If your family has a tradition of visiting the water front each year, you'll enjoy this book.

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! ❤️

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.

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.

This sweet, lyrical story captures summer sentiments well as it reminds of a childhood favorite place beautifully! The wonderful art adds to the mood nicely.

Parents, grandparents and children will read and re-read this timeless treasure! Brings back my own cherished memories.