Customer Reviews

Don't Slam the Door!

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved this book, which was so clearly inspired by The House That Jack Built. It tells the story of a chain reaction, where one misfortune leads to more disaster, until finally things are set to rights. And of course, there are plenty of repeated phrases, lending a bouncy, rhyming sense of fun.

A redhead girl warns readers, "Please don't slam the door! Don't slam that old screen door! A slamming door will wake the cat, and heaven knows, we don't want that, so please don't slam that door!" Naturally, an awake cat will want to play in balls of yarn, which will create knots in the yarn, meaning Pa's socks will end up knitted all lumpy, causing Pa to bump into the honey hive, where panicked bees will sting a bear who will run into the cows in the barn, who will, in turn, run for the safety of the feather bed inside the farmhouse. Luckily, the girl sorts everything out, shivvying everyone back to their proper places, and admonishing the dog as he leaves, "Don't ever slam that door! A slamming door will wake the cat, and heaven knows, we don't want that! We've been through this before!" Watercolor and colored pencil mixed-media illustrations featuring expressive human and animal faces with tiny dot-like eyes are slightly reminiscent of Tomie DePaola.

Keep the fun going and pair this with The Bicklebys' Birdbath by Andrea Perry, illustrated by Roberta Angaramo for even more rhyming cause-and-effect!

This book begins with the warning not to slam the door....because once it is, a whole chain of catastrophes occur! It's funny and fast paced. The rhyming text is clever and never forced. My 4 year old enjoys it tremendously, and even my 2 year old likes it because of the fantastic illustrations (many of farm animals.) We checked it out of the library, but have added it to our wish list for Xmas!