Brought to you by OBS reviewer Caro

Possible spoilers

Julia’s house is set on top of an enormous turtle. When Julia’s house arrives to town, it settles by the sea. She immediately runs down and sticks her mailbox in the ground. There’s a beautiful view and everything seems perfect. Too perfectly quiet, actually. So Julia gets to work and makes a sign inviting every lost creature to her home. Soon after, a Patched Up kitty arrives. Then, a troll, whose bridge had been torn down. And later, every creature she could imagine is at her door; Julia’s house is empty no more.

There are creatures everywhere, doing things here and there, at all times, to the point where Julia needs to design a Chore Chart for the creatures to follow. Everything is at peace, again, until Julia’s house starts to whoosh, drip, and creek. Julia knows what to do and she designs, once more, a sign looking for help. She doesn’t have to wait long, for help soon arrives, and Julia’s house for lost creatures finally settles down.

Julia’s House for Lost Creatures is a beautiful, watercolor, short, graphic novel where the reader gets a glimpse of a fantasy world by the sea. Julia, the young girl owner of the house, is very active, crafty, and is seen running from one place to the other with her blue dress, green apron, and orange hair flying behind her. An aspect I liked was how detailed the artwork is in several scenes.

One of my favorites is at the beginning where Julia is sitting in her living room and you can see every little detail drawn around her; the cozy fire, the pictures of people and flowers on the wall, little sculptures, cracks on the chimney, books, tea sets, and more. Even her workshop is something to admire. The author drew everything an artist like her could need. The creatures’ design is very well described for one’s imagination that I had to take a double look to appreciate it. I would have to say that the trolls were my favorite.

Julia’s House for Lost Creatures is definitely a must read story to your children, for yourself if you’re into watercolor illustration, or just in general good artwork inspiration. One thing I do know is that I will keep my eye on author Ben Hatke’s future work.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*