Posts Tagged ‘animals scared’
The Squeaky Door
July 10th, 2009
This is a cute book for kids called The Squeaky Door. This story is retold by Margaret Read MacDonald and pictures are by Mary Newell DePalma. This book is big and measures 10x9x0.35 inches and is supposed to be for children ages 4-8. It has 34 pages with lots of colorful pictures and also text to read.
What is The Squeaky Door about?
The Squeaky Door is a story based on a Puerto Rican folk song called La Cama. In this story, the little boy was staying with his grandma. At night, he was sleeping alone to begin with but the door squeaks and he got scared. Then grandma got his her cat to sleep with so he would not be scared but he was still scared. The boy never admitted though. Then grandma got his a dog, then a horse, a pig, etc. But the boy and all the animals with him were still scared. Eventually the bed broke because the animals were too heavy. The boy ended up sleeping with grandma and grandpa. The next day, grandma fixed the bed and the door and it no longer squeaks so the boy slept happily the next night.
Reviews of the Squeaky Door book
PreSchool-Grade 3–When staying with his grandparents, a boy is frightened by the squeaky door to his bedroom. To comfort him, Grandma puts various animals in bed with him. In MacDonald's retelling, she tries a cat, dog, pig, and horse. When the bed breaks, the boy gets to sleep with his grandparents. The next morning Grandma oils the door, repairs the bed, and the child sleeps soundly after that. Other retellings include Laura Simms's The Squeaky Door (Random, 1991), Judith Mathews and Fay Robinson's Nathaniel Willy, Scared Silly (S & S, 1994), and Pat Thomson's The Squeaky, Creaky Bed (Doubleday, 2003). This one is very similar to the language in Simms's version. All of the retellings are funny, and children enjoy the absurdity of the situation. DePalma's bright and colorful cartoon illustrations are full of humorous details, but are not large enough to share with a group. This book is best suited for one-on-one sharing and is also a great choice to add to storytelling repertoires.–Elaine Lesh Morgan, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR
PreS-Gr. 2. MacDonald--storyteller, author, and children's librarian--brings her experience to bear in this straightforward retelling of an old favorite, distinguished by the way the words are set down on the page. Ellipses, uppercase letters, exclamation points, and divergent spellings ("squeeeeeak!") signal readers to pause, raise or lower their voices, or inject drama into the cumulative tale of a misguided grandma who is certain a critter (or several) can help her grandson adjust to sleeping in a big-boy bed. When she realizes what's really causing the problem, she finds a quick solution: "She oiled that squeaky door." The art is as distinctive as the text. DePalma's illustrations, diminutive and detailed, envision a cozy home and loving grandma, whose comical endeavors to outfit animals in pj's and kiss them goodnight ("smack!") brim with clever touches, while double-page spreads reflect the child's apprehension and loneliness by gradually increasing the distance between the bed and the slowly closing door. Numerous spot illustrations make this impractical for pajama parties, but for lap sharing before bed, it is just perfect. Stephanie Zvirin
The Squeaky Door
Posted in Animal Books for Kids, Animal Stories, Big Books for Kids, Children Stories, General Kids Books, Kids Book Reviews | 
Tags: Animals, animals helping not be scared, animals scared, boy scared, darkness, Grandma, Grandmother, grandpa, how to not be scared at night, how to sleep alone and not be scared, in the dark, scared at night, scared of darkness, scared sleeping alone, scarry night, scary situation, sleeping alone, sleeping alone in the dark, sleeping in darkness, sleeping in the dark, sleeping with animals, sleeping with grandma, squeak, squeaky door, story about a boy, story about a scared boy, the squeaky door, visiting grandma | 
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