Mr Rouse has decided to build himself a house. Inevitably, the process is much longer and more detailed than Mr Rouse initially envisages: "Mr Builder, I'm not a bird, you know; how could I live in a house made of leaves?" This quirky tale takes the reader through a timeline of inventions. In a wonderful blend of absurd poetry and British pragmatism, Mr Rouse contends with housing, transport, lighting, plumbing and timekeeping, encountering quarrelling stairs and dapper guttering on his way.

 

 

There are 148 pages in this book.

This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+).

This book was published in 2013 by Tate Publishing .

Stefan and Franciszka Themerson were leading Polish avant-garde artists and film-makers in the 1930s. They left Warsaw for Paris in 1937, and in 1940 Franciszka fled to London, where her husband later joined her in 1942. In 1948 they founded the influential Gaberbocchus Press, publishers of Kurt Schwitters, Jankel Adler and Alfred Jarry, among others. Franciszka Themerson was a leading Polish avant-garde artist and film-maker before the war. She left Warsaw for Paris in 1937, and in 1940 fled to London, where, in 1948, she and her husband Stefan founded the influential Gaberbochus Press, publishers of Kurt Schwitters, Jankel Adler and Alfred Jarry, among others. Franciszka and Stefan Themerson were leading figures in the Polish avant-garde during the 1930s. Both moved to Paris in 1938 and then on to London, where they established in 1948 the influential Gaberbocchus Press, publishing Kurt Schwitters, Jankel Adler and Alfred Jarry, among others. Barbara Wright was a translator and art writer who worked closely with Franciszka and Stefan Themerson at Gaberbocchus Press. Wright translated key works of 20th-century French literature into English including Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi, Samuel Beckett, Tristan Tzara and Raymond Queneau.