Every now and again I see a picture book and wish it had been around five years earlier when my son (now ten) would have really loved it. He's totally happy to page through one even now and always appreciates the illustrations but most picture book stories are obviously geared at younger kids and thus he does not get out of them what he would have in the past. Not Inside This House! by Kevin Lewis (illustrated by David Ercolini) is EXACTLY one of those books that my boy would have loved. The protagonist has a killer name, is determined to have many adventures, does rather outrageous things (all conveyed in Lewis' hyper rhymes that literally make you raise your voice as you read) and the mother is the right level of blase/shocked to keep the joke going. Livingstone lives to explore and Lewis lets him, in the most delightful way possible.

What you have are large realistic illustrations with a heavy green and blue palette that wash the pages from corner to corner in deep rich color. Livingstone, usually in overalls, is a sturdy protagonist who easily represents "every man" (or at least every little kid). He's bored with inside things and lives for the moments outside, where he makes discoveries (initially of bugs) and brings them back home. Thus starts the repetitive charge from his mother:

Livingstone Columbus Magellan Crouse,
I'll have no bugs inside this house!
I'll say it once. Won't say it twice.
To speak again will not suffice!"

As the book continues you can replace "bugs" with "mice", "hog", "moose" "elephant" and on and on. The final two lines change a wee bit as well, but reliably Livingstone finds something fantastic on his daily tour of the great outdoors and his mother wigs when he brings it home. The progression from bug to elephant (to whale!) is steady and predictable but one never knows exactly what Livingstone will bring home next or how exactly Mom will phrase her reaction. In the end, the bug thing doesn't look so bad and thus, Livingstone wins which was the point all along. Are bugs not such a big deal, really? Well, clearly the answer is yes, bugs = perfectly reasonable thing to share with mom. And Livingstone, with his butterfly net and sleeping bag and tent and canteen and binoculars and homemade terrariums and EVERYTHING ELSE that makes him about the most adorable kid ever (and someone Richard Louv* would say all kids should emulate) is too cute for words.

I found Not Inside This House! utterly irresistible and I think you will too and that is why I wanted to tell you about it. You are lucky folks, all of you, if you know a child who is the best age for this book. Now go get them a copy and read it.

*Author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder