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The House with the Little Red Door by Grace Easton

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 7 Sep 2026

Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
ISBN: 9780500660553

“Easton’s stunning picture book about friendship and home has all the cosy feels. Her warm, detailed artwork is full of delightful details and beautiful papercraft flaps, meaning that young readers can spend ages looking inside fridges and food cupboards at all the tiny beautiful bits and bobs.” BookTrust
“This lift-the-flap story includes plenty of beautiful details: the various rooms in Mouse’s treehouse, the insides of would-be new homes for Mouse, and even the reveal of Mouse’s silhouette at the door in the snowy night. Pale-skinned, brown-haired Olivia makes a sweet friend for the adorable, big-eared, beady-eyed rodent. The illustrations evoke a strong sense of place and season, thanks to the carefully chosen details and well-captured outdoor elements. Readers will love poring over these richly depicted scenes and slipping into Olivia and Mouse’s inviting world. A touching tale with a relatable message: Home is where our loved ones are.” KIRKUS

There are so-so lift-the-flap-books and then there are high-class lift-the-flap books. This is one of the classy ones. And Grace Easton has let us know via Instagram (see below) that there’s to be a return to the Red Door in 2027. 
This first Red Door title is now out in paperback.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Grace Easton (@higraceeaston)

What makes a house a home? This sweet story, with jaw-dropping illustrations, is the perfect cosy tale for bedtime. 

Olivia lives in a house with a little red door. Mouse lives in an oak tree behind the house. When a storm blows the oak tree down, Olivia tries her best to find a new house for her neighbour, but are any of the houses the right home?

When Mouse loses his old oak tree home in a snowstorm, his neighbour Olivia offers many different options for a new house, but none are quite right. It is only when she offers a place in her own house with the little red door that it becomes a home for both of them.

Illustrator Grace Easton brings her expressive character illustration and beautiful hand-painted scenery to a story of two lonely neighbours finding friendship in the face of a disaster. 22 die-cut flaps reveal details around the cosy setting, bringing dimension to a story sure to bring warmth to a cold winter’s bedtime.

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The Little House that Needed a Witch by Sophie Pluim tr. Polly Lawson

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 5 May 2026

Publisher: Floris Books
ISBN: 9781782509837

See also:
The Runaway Pancake [ACHUKA Book of the Day 31 Jan 2025]

Yes, they keep on coming! Yet another wonderful picture book in translation from Floris Books. In this one, a witch’s house must go on a journey to find a new occupant.

Deep in the forest sat a little witch’s house, but the old witch who’d lived there had gone for good. The little house felt empty and alone. As the seasons changed, grass grew tall around it and mushrooms began to sprout from its roof. The little house knew it must find a new witch or it would fall down.

She was so old even her wrinkles were wrinkled.

What to do? Creaking, the little house stood up and set out on a journey. Would it find a witch in need of a house?

This is a charming original fairy tale from Sophie Pluim, illustrator of The Runaway Pancake. It is the first picture book she has written as well as illustrated.

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We Are Like Birds by Laila Ekboir

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 3 Feb 2025

Waterstones
Bookshop

A gorgeous debut picture book from Argentinian illustrator Laila Ekboir about moving home, making new friends and embracing change.

Recommended background:
Visiting the Mayan Ruins of Palenque: a humbling and revealing experience

Flor is only seven years old and has moved home three times. Now her family is moving again and she has to start all over again in a new country and a new school.

A beautiful, lyrical picture book about moving home, finding new friends and a sense of belonging in a new culture. The perfect, uplifting story for any child who feels like they don’t fit in or who is worried about the prospect of moving country, home or school and having to start over.

Laila Ekboir worked as a freelance illustrator for many years in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before moving to the UK in 2021 to complete an MA in children’s book illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. She works by hand, exploring a multiplicity of materials, but her favourite medium is printmaking. 

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A post shared by Laila E. (@laila_ekboir)

The Dolls’ House by Tanya Rosie ill. Claudia Ravalli

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 6 Mar 2o24

Waterstones
Bookshop

A relatable heart-warming story. ACHUKA appreciates the presence of a in every spread :)
Read a profile of the illustrator – this is her first picture book.

One day Mia and her mum are walking home to their new house when they find a dolls’ house on the side of the road. It looks sad with its broken shutters and peeling paint, but Mia falls in love and takes it home to fix it up.

The next morning a little boy is looking at the dolls’ house on Mia’s porch. Soon more and more children arrive, and they spend the long summer days playing together. Just one child does not join in, and nothing Mia does can persuade him to overcome his shyness.

Then, one night, there is a terrible storm and the dolls’ house is damaged. Mia learns that kindness can come from the most unexpected places.

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A post shared by Claudia G Ravalli (@claudia_illustrates)