Teeny Tiny

This old English ghost storyabout the teeny tiny woman who found a teeny tiny bone and took it home to make souphas been retold, almost identically (and with almost an identical titleTeeny Tiny Woman, by Barbara Seuling, Paul Galdone and others, and now by Bennett. The rhythmic words are wonderful for reading aloud, and the story builds as the voice from the cupboards repeats, each time slightly louder, ""Give me my bone!'' DePaola's illustrations are colorful, cheerful and childlike, but a bit static, and lack both the eeriness and expressiveness of Galdone's pictures and the teeny tiny coziness of Seuling's artwork. Wide-eyed ghosts follow the teeny tiny woman around, from the first pages to the moment when one of them snatches back his bone, but these don't impart any new meaning to the story. In fact, it would make more sense if they started following her after she picks up the bonewhy before? This version is mostly for dePaola fans. (47)