The House of Narcissus

This story details a house that was so obsessed with its own outer beauty that it could not stand to have people live within it. After chasing off the families that tried to live inside it (even scaring a child of one occupant), the house simply spent years staring at its own reflection in the canal. Then one day a cat moves in and it is forced to realise that it is cold and unloved, causing it to resolve to change.

The narrative contains elements of tragedy and rebirth as the writer tries to convey the house in all its selfishness and eventual regret. The Illustrations suit the bleak tone of the story, showing the house in its glory and its eventual disrepair as it builds to the climax. 

In a classroom you could use this book to discuss the difference between inner and outer beauty. You could also approach this from a design and technology perspective and have the children build their own versions of the house at various points in the book.