By Jon Klassen (author) , Jon Klassen (illustrator)
"A quietly macabre peep-through board book, perfect for sharing – and scaring – with young readers. "
Board book In Stock £8.99 £8.09
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In this appealing house-shaped board book, an unseen narrator takes the reader on a tour through an empty house, with chunky die-cuts representing the windows and doors... but is the house really empty? Readers will feel a gleeful shiver as the narrator travels from room to room, pointing out various household objects, but never its ghostly inhabitant, who holds our gaze until the final page.
Klassen’s idiosyncratic style and muted colour palette lends itself perfectly to this spooky tale. As author-illustrator he excels at telling an entirely different story through illustration than through text – which elevates and allows for deeper engagement with both – of withholding easy answers, and of ambiguous endings. Notably, the book’s opening lines near-repeat at its close, but the illustrations have transitioned from day to night, almost without us noticing.
A grown-up reading this with a child will enjoy the pantomime of disputing the existence of anything else on the pages. They will also be best placed to judge the child’s appetite for spook – and the implication that the house’s inhabitant may have passed away – with the wide-eyed ghost hovering somewhere between unsettling and adorable, depending on who you ask (adorable, says this reviewer!).
The perfect read for autumn and winter evenings, and ideal for fans of This Is Not My Hat , There’s a Ghost in this House , and Funnybones .
From the bestselling Jon Klassen comes a house-shaped, peep-through board book for young readers with a thrill for things that go bump in the night - while feeling safely tucked into their own house, with plenty of somebodies around.
Read the full description
Here are all the things in this house: a chair, a clock on the wall, a stool, a lamp. What's missing from this house? Somebody. This is the house with nobody in it. Well, there might be some thing...
Designed as an oversize board book, this story takes young ones through a recognisable, cosy house, while die cuts introduce just a hint of precarity. This is the house with nobody in it - or is it?
This is classic Klassen, revealing a bit of mystery before bringing us back into the familiar ... shifty eyes and all.
FROM THE WINNER OF THE ASTRID LINDGREN MEMORIAL AWARD 2026
Jon Klassen has created illustrations for popular series The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place and served as an illustrator on the animated feature film Coraline. His illustrations for Caroline Stutson's Cats Night Out won the Governor General Award in 2010. I Want My Hat Back is the first book he has both written and illustrated. Originally from Niagara Falls, Canada, he lives in Los Angeles, USA.
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From the bestselling Jon Klassen comes a house-shaped, peep-through board book for young readers with a thrill for things that go bump in the night - while feeling safely tucked into their own house, with plenty of somebodies around.Here are all the things in this house: a chair, a clock on the wall, a stool, a lamp. What's missing from this house?
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed The House With Nobody in It and determined it is suitable for children aged 3-6 years old
The House With Nobody in It features in the following genres: Featured Books for 3+ readers, Featured Books for 5+ readers, Recommendations, Star Books, Fantasy / Magical, Horror & Ghost Stories, Children’s: picture books, activity books, early learning concepts, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Children's and Young Adult Fiction
Board book. £8.09, down from the £8.99 cover price. In Stock.
The House With Nobody in It was written by Jon Klassen and published by Walker Books Ltd an imprint of Walker Books
The House With Nobody in It has 18 pages
£8.09, reduced from £8.99. In Stock.
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