Customer Reviews

The Squeaky Door

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

 

 

I admit to being astonished that no one's done a review of this marvelous picture book yet. The Squeaky Door is a delightful addition to the collection of folktales from around the world that have been put into picture book form by the remarkable Margaret Read MacDonald.It is also one of the best read-alouds I have discovered this year. Ms. MacDonald is a storyteller and folklorist as well as an author, and many of her stories come from those she has heard and told over the years.

The framework of the tale is simple. Little Boy is staying over Grandmas, and gets to sleep in the big brass bed by himself. But all it takes is aformentioned squeaky door to ruin a good night's sleep. Grandma tries to help by bringing various animals in to stay in the bed with him. First the cat, then the dog, then the pig and finally, the horse. This growing menagerie finally overloads the bed--and it breaks. And Grandma finally takes care of that squeaky door. What makes this work so well, is the magic of the words. Everything is written to be read aloud and easily falls into a rythym that the audience will catch onto quickly. Most lines are repeated several times throughout the book, guaranteeing that children can join in with the words after the first or second repetition. As the title says, the book sings--even a reader not particularly adept at reading books aloud should be able to read this without too much trouble. The words remain fairly simple, and the story straight forward, but hilarious. It's a good read for children 3 to 6 years old. For older children, the best approach may be asking them to join in on Little Boy's responses to Grandma each time.

Then there are the pictures created by Mary Newell DePalma. The pictures are crafted to complement the text, with smaller images being placed on the pages with text and full page illustrations used for the sound effects of the door squeaking or the noises of Little Boy and the various animals. The illustrations for the door squeak gradually get larger and larger until they overtake the entire two page spread by the end. The pictures really add to the overall mood of the story and the hilarity of so many animals in the bed with Little Boy. While a large audience will appreciate what's going on, they may miss some of the more amusing details that an up close read reveal. My particular favorite is the cat tucked into bed with an eye mask on, but the horse in pyjamas is worth a chuckle too. Overall, this is a book with images that can work for a large audience, but can offer a one-on-one reader the advantage of discoveries with closer inspection.

For parents, librarians and teachers with young children to read to, I can't recommend this book highly enough. It is likely best for the 3 to 6 age group as it's a bit long for younger children and may not keep the attention of older children as well. If you like this picture book, you may want to check out "Little Rooster's Diamond Button" and "Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur!" also folktales retold by Margaret Read MacDonald. Here's hoping this book finds it's way into many bookshelves in the future!

Happy Reading!^_^ Shanshad

I had signed this book out of our local library and had read it to my daughters! I think the first time I had read it the power had gone out so to keep them interested and distracted from not having any power. I really animated it and they loved it. We laughed and giggled the whole way through. So of course when it was time to give it back the girls were sad. So the search began for this book and the search was unsuccessful. With that I knew exactly where I would be able to find this book here on Amazon!!! Thanks so much for making searching so easy with happy endings!

This is a GREAT read-aloud book. My 6-year-old has read along with me each night since we've had it. From the SQUEEEEEEAK of the door to the WAAAAAHs and WOOFs and OINKs - it''s impossible for the kids to refrain from joining in the telling of this tale. Wonderful illustrations tell more of the story than is written in the text. I highly recommend this book.

This is a fun book to read. I am a teacher and my students love this story, we have had lots of fun with all the different sounds. The illustrations are terrific also. One other thing that I really like is that the Grandmother not the Grandfather fixes the squeak.

Hilarious!! If you have a child, like my daughter, who doesn't want to go to bed, you'll love this book. My child has to kiss everybody in the house ten times before she goes to sleep. The boy, the main character, in the book can't sleep. So, his grandmother tries several things to get him to go bed, you won't believe what she does. Moreover, your child will be laughing throughout the book, as my daughter did when I read it to her.

I baught this book for my daughter who will be four years old in August and she loves it.