"Once upon a time there was a Little House way out in the country. She was a pretty Little House and she was strong and well built." So begins Virginia Lee Burton's classic The Little House, winner of the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1942. The rosy-pink Little House, on a hill surrounded by apple trees, watches the days go by, from the first apple blossoms in the spring through the winter snows. Always faintly aware of the city's distant lights, she starts to notice the city encroaching on her bucolic existence. First a road appears, which brings horseless carriages and then trucks and steamrollers. Before long, more roads, bigger homes, apartment buildings, stores, and garages surround the Little House. Her family moves out and she finds herself alone in the middle of the city, where the artificial lights are so bright that the Little House can no longer see the sun or the moon. She often dreams of "the field of daisies and the apple trees dancing in the moonlight." Finally a woman recognizes her and whisks the Little House back to the country where she belongs, they will rejoice. For generations, young readers have been delighted by the whimsical, detailed drawings and happy ending.

小房子每天站在山岡上看風景，除瞭日月星辰和四季的變化，小房子還看到鄉村的景物隨著挖馬路、開商店、蓋高樓、通地下鐵……而一點一點地改變。結果，小雛菊和蘋果樹不見瞭，取而代之的是都市的烏煙瘴氣和行色匆匆的人們。還好，小房子的主人的後代發現瞭小房子，把她移到瞭鄉下，她又可以靜靜地欣賞大自然的風景瞭。

《小房子》問世已經有70年瞭，獲得過1943年的凱迪剋金奬。今天人們談論它多的，還是它對現代文明的擔憂和批判。急劇膨脹的都市，宛如一頭長驅直入的怪獸，轉瞬間就吞噬瞭小房子、吞噬瞭丘陵和丘陵上的雛菊和蘋果樹……即便是結尾，盡管小房子得救瞭，重新在一片長著小雛菊和蘋果樹的丘陵上找到瞭歸宿，但還是留下瞭一個懸念，又有誰能保證它永遠不再被現代文明吞噬呢？
　　這是一個美麗的故事，也是一個彌漫著傷感的故事。讓孩子體會到大自然的美好、瞭解城市的建設過程，從而更加熱愛環境、熱愛生命。

Virginia Lee Burton (August 30, 1909, in Newton Centre, Massachusetts – October 15, 1968) was an American illustrator and children's book author. Burton wrote and illustrated seven self-illustrated children's books, including the Caldecott Medal winning The Little House. Also known by her married name Virginia Demetrios. She died in 1968 of lung cancer.The importance of Virginia Lee Burton's work for the development of modern environmentalism is discussed in a 2011 academic article published by the Journal of Urban History.

維吉尼亞·李·伯頓 1909年生於美國馬薩諸塞州，她的父親是麻省理工學院首位教務長，母親則是一位英國詩人兼音樂傢。維吉尼亞·李·伯頓小的時候，每逢生日和聖誕節，父親送給她的禮物不是玩具，而是許多精美的繪本，也常給她讀繪本。因此，她對繪本始終保持著極大的興趣。高中畢業後，她沒有上大學，而是繼續學習繪畫和芭蕾舞，每天利用上課路上兩個多小時的時間畫速寫。離開舊金山之後，她獲得瞭一份專業素描工作，為許多優秀舞者和藝術傢留下瞭珍貴的身影。

維吉尼亞·李·伯頓一直保持和孩子一起工作的習慣。她會把作品一遍又一遍地念給孩子聽，在觀察孩子的反應之後，加以修正。如此反復，直到自己和孩子都滿意為止。維吉尼亞·李·伯頓的主要作品有《逃跑的小火車頭》《邁剋·馬力甘和他的蒸汽挖土機》《加裏可，一匹奇跡馬》《凱迪和一場很大的雪》《纜車梅波兒》，以及榮獲1943年凱迪剋金奬的《小房子》，與安妮·馬爾科姆森閤作的、榮獲1948年凱迪剋大奬的《羅賓漢之歌》，和被贊譽為是她藝術與人生的集大成之作的《生命的故事》。
　　1968年10月15日，維吉尼亞·李·伯頓因病去世，享年59歲。

維吉尼亞·李·伯頓用樸素的文字和明艷的水彩，謳歌瞭一幅正在遠逝的鄉村美景。——兒童文學傢 彭懿 

隻要這本繪本能流傳下來，孩子們就會知道，曾經有過《小房子》一樣的生活，曾經有過那樣美麗的夢。這本書可以說是珍貴的文化遺産。——日本繪本之父 鬆居直