You know the rhyme. There was a crooked man…He bought a crooked cat, which found a crooked mouse. And they all lived together in a little crooked house.But the crooked house is too close to a train line and every time a train goes by, the whole house shakes. So the crooked man and the crooked cat and the crooked mouse and even the crooked house all move to a better place – a desert where there are no trains. But the desert isn’t the right place for them either, and soon they are on the move again.
This reworking of a traditional rhyme is full of the humour and joy that can be expected from author Margaret Wild. The whimsy of the storyline is perfectly complemented by that of the watercolour illustrations by artist Jonathan Bentley.
Youngsters will love the silliness of a house which can move from place to place, the detail of the illustrations and the repeated refrain of “Yippee-yi-yay!” which they’ll be joining in with by the end of the first reading.
Lots of fun.
The Little Crooked House, by Margaret Wild and Jonathan Bentley
ABC Books, 2005