Don't Slam the Door!
PreSchool-Grade 2 In this rhyming story, Chaconas brings the domino effect to the farm. When a dog causes a screen door to slam and wake the cat, there's no end to the havoc. The cat puts knots in Ma's knitting yarn, resulting in painful lumpy socks that cause Dad to bump into a beehive, and so on: you get the picture. By the end of the story the cows are back in the barn, the feathers back in the pillow, and the pig-tailed narrator is exhausted from trying to keep order in her little world. The author's bouncy couplets are rhythmically consistent all the better for reading aloud. Hillenbrand's mixed-media illustrations with characteristic domestic details and expressive faces on both animal and human figures are a spot-on match to the narrative. More than just silly fun at home or at storytime, this title would be useful for teaching cause and effect and prediction.Lisa Egly Lehmuller, St. Patrick's Catholic School, Charlotte, NCCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.