HELLO, HOUSE!

by Alejandro Tachile

What would you do if after coming back from a picnic, the door of your house is open?  And for your surprise, a wolf is inside your home!  In “Hello, house!” by Linda Hayward, children will learn that, rather than strength, what can get you out of a hard situation is intelligence.  And to depict this, the author  presents Brer Rabbit and Brer Wolf.  The former is the anthesis of the later and this is the key to make the story funny.   

Brer Wolf is always trying to eat Brer Rabbit and his family.  And although he is bigger, “Brer Rabbit is a whole lot smarter”.  After several unsuccessful attempts to trick his prey, Brer Wolf hides into the family house, when they go to a picnic.  They come back and find the door of the house open.  To find out who is inside Brer Rabbit shouts “ Hello, house!”,  Brer Wolf gets so confused that he even replies to the greeting saying:”HELLO TO YOU TOO!”.  After this, Brer Rabbit chuckles and then says:” This house talks too low” ,so Brer Wolf answers:”HELLO TO YOU TOO!”  in a high voice.  And for every reply Brer Wolf makes, Brer Rabbit always finds something to complain about his answer.  At the end ,Brer wolf realizes he has been tricked by Brer Rabbit and gets out of the house furiously.

The core of the tale is the trick that Brer Rabbit uses against Brer Wolf.  Apart from giving the title to the story, the phrase `hello,house!` is the key to catch children`s attention.  Since nobody would say `hello` to a house, this trick shows to children that sometimes the solution to a problem could be hidden in something completely unexpected or inusual.

The tale gives a funny vision of the idea of intelligence overcoming strength.  And children will be satisfy with the end since it is impossible not not to cherish Brer Rabbit and his family while reading the tale.  I definitely recommend “Hello,House” since it is a children´s book that should be in every bookcase.