Jill Bennett (1)

I enjoyed reading this book, especially the poem entitled Rhyme by Elizabeth Coatworth, because of the rhythmic and creative writing and vivid illustrations. First, the poem "Rhyme" describes a thunderstorm that rattles a house and parallels it to a dunderstorm, blunderstorm, plunderstorm, and wonderstorm. Suchlike descriptive synonyms help the readers to visualize how loud and frightening it must have been to watch and listen to the thunderstorm through the windows. I also liked the illustration because it vividly shows the dark skies and the house that shakes from the roaring thunderstorm. The main idea of this book is to describe the natural phenomenon of a thunderstorm using rhythmic language.… (meer)

A teeny tiny woman finds a teeny tiny bone at the graveyard, and decides to bring it home and make soup with it, in this traditional English ghost story, only to find herself with a not-so-teeny-tiny problem, when a ghost shows up, demanding the return of his bone.

Originally collected in Joseph Jacobs' English Fairy Tales, this odd little tale has also been retold by Paul Galdone and Jane O'Connor. This edition, with text by Jill Bennett, seems to be a fairly straightforward reproduction of the Jacobs version, and will be of particular interest to Tomie dePaola fans, I think. With its repetitive structure (everything is "teeny tiny"), and ghoulish subject matter, Teeny Tiny would make a wonderful story-hour selection, particularly around Halloween.… (meer)