It might not be the perfect house—“windows drafty, shutters peeling. / There’s a crack across the ceiling. / Paint’s a little chipped and faded. / Might say it’s dilapidated”—but the family of nine living here couldn’t be happier—until a doorknob falls off. Finding a screw to replace this fixture fails, so the group (plus their big shaggy dog) sets off for the hardware store. A series of setbacks leads to shopping for a new doorknob, then a door and finally the decision to remodel the entire house. Before the complete home makeover is underway, however, Little Lizzie intervenes with her pacifier. Each line adds a layer of rich storytelling. Several passages describe the objects of the shed, hardware store and Dorothy’s Door Emporium (doors ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime). Chesworth’s vibrant and detailed illustrations, including a double-page cross-section of the house, invite lingering and revisiting. This ramshackle mess of an abode has real character and happily contains its frolicking family. (Picture book. 4-6)
