Thursday, July 20, 2006

The Crooked Little House


Sorry sorry sorry. I should have posted something days ago, but I am getting to be a total slacker about reading, although my garden is looking mighty fine and so is my friend’s on Galliano Island where I spent 4 days soaking up the sun, working on her garden, and doing a little writing.

I haven’t quite finished Shrimp,the sequel to Gingerbread (see previous post) not because it isn’t wonderful, (see excuses above). Hopefully will do tonight for bedtime reading.

In the meantime, my lovely bookstore daughter brought over a picture book for me to see. The Crooked Little House by Margaret Wild is fabulous, fabulous, fabulous and I totally fell in love with the illustrations by Jonathan Bentley which are as charming as they are quirky. Kids will love the repetitive refrains which makes it ideal as a read aloud. The story starts out in a very traditional vein. “There was a crooked man who lived with a crooked cat and a crooked mouse all together in a little crooked house.” But the story soon veers off charting it’s very own pathway. The house is besieged by a series of disturbances that range from shaking to flooding, but it and it’s occupants eventually find the perfect location to settle down. The marriage between Vancouver, BC’s Simply Read Books, a new but dynamic publishing house, and this talented Aussie writer and illustrator will hopefully produce more fine offspring in the future.

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