From Publishers Weekly
Calmenson (The Principal's New Clothes) combines school and ghost story in this knock-off of the classic folktale. A diminutive teacher and her even more diminutive students find a mysterious bone and are subsequently haunted by a mysterious voice. Calmenson engages readers' attention through her use of repetition and the familiar setting ("She handed out the teeny tiny cups of juice and passed around teeny tiny cookies"). The pace builds to a climax when a "teeny tiny voice" from the closet grows increasingly louder ("Give me my bone!") and the teacher puts a stop to it ("Take it!"). Unfortunately, the juxtaposition of school setting and scary theme seems jarring; the classroom is too cheery to be frightening. The real triumph is Roche's (Loo Loo, Boo and Art You Can Do) rendering of the teeny tiny world inside and outside of the classroom. His uncomplicated style and crayon-bright palette exude sunshine from the double-page spreads. Each gouache illustration brims with charming Lilliputian details: flowers loom above the minute schoolhouse, children play jump rope with a spool of thread, and Scrabble pieces form stepping stones, while inside children sit on dice and at desks made of dominoes. Though the themes may work at cross purposes, readers will likely take pleasure in the teeny tiny visual details. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-While taking a walk in the woods with her students, a teacher finds a bone and sticks it in her coat pocket before returning to her classroom. Like its precursor, "The Teeny Tiny Woman," the story will capture the attention of children who will be wondering just who is demanding "Give me back my bone," in ever-increasing volume. As the teacher brushes off the requests, her retorts to her students, whom she assumes are making the pleas, are hilarious-exactly the type of statements made by a teacher to a class that is just a little too disruptive. Alternately she scolds, "Someone is being a teeny tiny bit silly," and "Teeny tiny students who have something to say must raise their teeny tiny hands." Up until the very end, when the closet's occupant and its motive are revealed, readers are onlookers into a classroom that has, at first glance, gotten out of hand. The full-color illustrations are bold, bright, and primitive. A fine example of what an imaginative author and illustrator can bring to an old favorite.
Elisabeth H. Hall, Arden Elementary School, Columbia, SCCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
