The Secret of the Painted House
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that there is little of concern here. But Emily doesn't make a very good babysitter -- she leaves her little brother alone in the forest. This story has a ghost, which very sensitive children might find frightening.
Families can talk about ghosts and ghost stories. Do you think they are real or just fun campfire-story entertainment? Have you ever seen or heard anything you couldn't explain? Why might some people believe in ghosts even without solid evidence? Why are they so often portrayed as mean and scary?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
Of all the types of children's books there are, transitional readers -- short chapter books written to help young readers make the transition away from picture books -- seem to be the most difficult to write. At this age children's intellectual and emotional levels far exceed their reading levels, and too many authors, in simplifying the text, tend to simplify the stories to the point of insipidity.
Not so with veteran author Marion Dane Bauer, who keeps the reading easy and the story intriguing at the same time. Though a ghost story, with a nice goosebumpy chill that most kids will enjoy, it's never too scary. This tone is nicely matched by Leonid Gore's misty grayscale illustrations.
Many authors have discovered that there's something deliciously creepy about characters in paintings, and Bauer adds the intriguing variation of infinite levels of paintings within paintings. Combined with a forest/playhouse setting, and the magical idea of entering into a painting, this is a story that will keep young readers reading. And that's the purpose of a transitional novel -- to introduce this age to the pleasures of literature.
From The Book
A playhouse stood in the painted forest too. The painted playhouse looked exactly like the one she was peering into!
Emily backed away from the window. A small shiver scurried down her spine. How odd this all was! A playhouse in the woods. Woods inside the playhouse. A playhouse inside the woods inside the playhouse! If she could look through the windows of the painted playhouse, would she find more woods? Would she find another playhouse?
The idea made her dizzy.
Plot Summary:
When Emily and her family move from the city to the country, she is sure there will be nothing to do. But then she finds a mysterious padlocked playhouse out in the middle of the woods. Looking through the window she sees that the inside walls are painted to resemble the woods, including the playhouse itself. Her neighbor tells her that it belonged to a little girl, Pin, who died in a fire.
When she is forced to babysit her little brother, she leaves him picking flowers in the woods so that she can go investigate the playhouse. She gets inside and finds that the ghost of Pin lives in the painting on the walls, and that she can enter the painting herself. But when Pin lures her brother deep into the painting, it's up to Emily to try to rescue him.
Related Books:
Other Books by Marion Dane Bauer:
Face to Face
On My Honor
A Question of Trust
Classic Transitional Books:
The Lemming Condition by Alan Arkin
No Flying in the House by Betty Brock
The Chalkbox Kid by Clyde Robert Bulla
The Shoeshine Girl by Clyde Robert Bulla
The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
Second Hand Magic by Ruth Chew
The Children's Story by James Clavell
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl
The Twits by Roald Dahl
Morning Girl by Michael Dorris
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Stone Fox by John R. Gardiner
The Adventures of Treehorn by Florence Parry Heide
The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes
The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse
Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith
J.T. by Jane Wagner
Judy Moody was in a mood. Not a good mood. A bad mood. by Megan McDonald
Related Web Sites:
Author's Site
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