Doris Burn's picture book follows Andrew Henry, a middle child whose elaborate inventions receive no appreciation from his busy family—his mother doesn't want another automatic clothes-folding machine, his father has no need for an electrical flea catcher. Feeling misunderstood, Andrew walks out of his house and across a meadow to build himself a place where he can work in peace. When the neighbor children learn what he's done, each one with their own specialty—birds, music, reading—joins him to build individual houses suited to their interests. Burn's detailed pen-and-ink illustrations show the children's architectural fantasies: a treehouse for the bird lover, a house with hammocks for the reader. The idyllic commune eventually faces reality when the children get hungry and miss their families—and when the families realize what they've lost. The book resolves warmly, with the parents building appreciation spaces into their homes so the children's interests can flourish without exile. Published in 1965 and long out of print before its revival, the book speaks to every child who has felt their true self unrecognized at home. The fantasy of escape and the recognition that home can be improved combine into a story about the need for space—physical and psychological—to develop one's own capacities. Parents reading this book are gently invited to consider whether they make room for their children's distinctive passions.