THE TREE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

As the title indicates, arboreal hijinks inspired by the classic rhyme.

The tale begins recognizably enough: “Here is the boy / up in the tree / where he built a house / overlooking the sea.” Then there is a pesky fly, followed by a lizard that snaps at that fly. But the narrative halts its cumulative efforts partway through to take a different turn. Jack has built a treehouse full of pulleys, levers, ropes and ladders. There is a rabbit, enticed by a carrot on a string, who powers a device to fan the monkey. Not to mention the speedy pineapple-delivery system for the squirrels. Verburg interrupts the expected rhyme to falteringly point out the wonders of the treehouse as the cat “jumps on the swings, / the ladder, the birdbath, / the marvelous things / Jack made with his tools.” The invitation to closely inspect Teague’s saturated art is unnecessary. Readers will be eagerly peering through branches to catch all the details of their own accords. The cumulative narration begins again, only to be halted by the storytime bell; however, this time the rhythm is better preserved. Jack, in fact, reads the same story that they are all in!

A semiclever twist that lends itself to far more imaginative play in illustration than text.