Nathaniel Willy, Scared Silly
The squeaky door gets the grease, but not before full, noisy havoc is wreaked in Nathaniel Willy's bed. When the youngster mistakes the creaking door ("Eeeeeeek") for a ghost, tired Gramma attempts to allay his fears by bringing in the cat (then the dog, then a pig, etc.) for bedtime company. But each time the old woman leaves, the squeaking door triggers a cacophonous chain reaction of "scrowlls," "warffs" and "snoinks." Despite its skillful use of onomatopoeia, Mathews's ( An Egg and Seven Socks ) and Robinson's ( A Frog Inside My Head ) wordy text jerks unexpectedly in and out of verse, making the book's seemingly obvious read-aloud charms frustratingly elusive. Far more inspired are Natchev's ( The Hobyahs , reviewed above) perky, folkloric watercolors: bright colors and skewed angles capture the merry mayhem of the mud-splattered menagerie crowded into Nathaniel's bed. Ages 4-8.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.