Houses with a Story: A Dragon’s Den, a Ghostly Mansion, a Library of Lost Books, and 30 More Amazing Places to Explore by Seiji Yoshid

A dreamer’s tree house. A mechanic’s cottage. A submerged city. Over thirty imaginative houses and the people who make them home offer unexpected worlds to wander through and explore. Who is the mischievous bridge tower keeper? What does the witch grow in her garden? How does the postal worker tame his delivery dragons? In each house, readers discover the contents of rooms and closets, what’s at the top of the stairs and where shadowy hallways lead. Story text provides background and details about the lives of the residents and hints about their past and future. Lush illustrations, diagrams and detailed descriptions of each character, location and landscape open doors to whimsy, wonder, and endless possibilities

The House of the Lost on the Cape by Sachiko Kashiwaba

In the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami, Yui, fleeing her violent husband, and Hiyori, a young orphan, are taken in by a strange but kind old lady named Kiwa in the small town of Kitsunezaki​​. The newly formed family finds refuge in a mayoiga, a lost house, perched atop a beautiful cape overlooking the sea. While helping to rebuild Kitsunezaki, the three adapt to their new lives and supernatural new home, slowly healing from their troubled pasts. Kiwa regales Yui and Hiyori with local legends–from the shapeshifting fox-woman who used to roam the mountains, to the demon Agamé and a sea snake who once terrorized the townspeople, preying upon their grief and fears until they trapped the snake and the demon’s claws in an underwater cave…

Later, When I’m Big by Bette Westera

As a child approaches the diving board at a pool, she dreams about all the amazing things she might do when she is older.

Pardalita by Joana Estrela

16-year-old Raquel lives in a small town in Portugal, the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else’s business. Her parents are divorced and she’s just been suspended for cursing out a school aide asking about her father’s new marriage. She has two best friends but wants something more. Then, from afar, she sees Pardalita and Raquel falls in love.