Jack and Jill's Treehouse

by Pamela Duncan Edwards, Henry Cole (Illustrations)

This is the wood that was hauled up to the branch that held the treehouse that Jack and Jill built. From hammering the first boards of wood to hanging the roof and the light, come follow along with Jack and Jill as they build a new treehouse! Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole's delightful cumulative read-aloud applauds busy young creators everywhere.

Genres: Picture Books, Construction, Childrens

24 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2008

About the author

Pamela Duncan Edwards is a British-born children's author living in the United States. She has written over forty picture books published in both the U.S. and the U.K., known for their playful language and engaging storytelling.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 2008 picture book Jack and Jill's Treehouse (with a text by Pamela Duncan Edwards and accompanying artwork by Henry Cole) is solidly based on the popular English cumulative tale This Is the House that Jack Built (and which is number 2035 on Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index), but that Duncan Edwards using Jack and Jill as joint protagonists means that Jack and Jill's Treehouse of course also in my opinion hearkens back to the famous Jack and Jill nursery rhyme, albeit in Jack and Jill's Treehouse Jack and Jill (who might be siblings but who could also be friends) fetch not a pail of water like in Jack and Jill but instead are collecting lumber since they are building a treehouse. But yes, although for the intended audience, for the so-called picture book crowd Jack and Jill's Treehouse does not really require an author's note, sorry, but I sure do wish that Pamela Duncan Edwards would provide the folkloric background I have mentioned above in Jack and Jill's Treehouse (and that not having any of this, with it not even being even remotely mentioned in Jack and Jill's Treehouse that the story, that the text is based on This is the House that Jack Built, well, for me this is rather an annoying and frustrating lack).

Now after Jack and Jill obtain their wood and build their treehouse, they then bring a whole lot more, like an old quilt for a roof, a flashlight for nighttime illumination, a box for a table and many treats for them as well as for visiting friends to eat and Jack and Jill's Treehouse ending with Jack and Jill camping out in their treehouse for the night, a fun combination of Duncan Edwards' text and Henry Cole's realistic but at the same time also nicely imaginative illustrations (and just to say, I certainly do hope that book banners and Puritans will not have issues with a girl and a boy building a treehouse together in Jack and Jill's Treehouse and with a girl and a boy camping out side by side in their newly constructed treehouse). And of course, just like in This is the House that Jack Built, in Jack and Jill's Treehouse each new item Pamela Edwards Duncan describes Jack and Jill as bringing then heralds both a new line and also the repetition of everything that has come before (and thus like a typical cumulative story going on and on and on).

But while I do find Edwards Duncan's adaptation of This is the House that Jack Built a bit lyrically awkward, a bit dragging, my inner child has definitely enjoyed both the words for Jack and Jill's Treehouse and even more so Cole's delightfully descriptive artwork, and that together, text and images for Jack and Jill's Treehouse should rate as nicely four stars (but that Jack and Jill's Treehouse will have to be lowered to three stars as the absence of an author's note as described above is definitely something that especially I as an adult reader find very frustrating and am wanting and also to be honest needing to criticise).

[Jennie]

Jack and Jill are building a treehouse. The story builds upon each addition to the house: “This is the branch that held the treehouse that Jack and Jill built.” Follwed by: “This is the wood that was hauled up to the branch that held the treehouse that Jack and Jill built.” And so on…

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great pictures, very predictable and easy for the children to follow along with the story. Each page builds on the previous one. Follow's the song " There was a tree......and the green grass grows all-around all around......".

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sequencing!
This book goes through the process of building a treehouse and collecting the things that go in it. Pictures are words are associated together to help with ELL students and students will love the pictures in the story. Also good to talk about teamwork.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice twist on the house that Jack Built. The illustrations are great!

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

beautiful pastel illustrations

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another version of "This is the House That Jack Built".

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A circular, repeating little story of a tree house built by Jack and Jill. It goes through (repeatedly) all the materials and the activities that go along with building / having a tree house.

Run-of-the-mill illustrations. Was expecting a little more from Henry Cole (of Warthogs in the Kitchen fame).

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

each page adds one more thing to the treehouse that jack and jill built, just like the original rhyme.

[The Library Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustration style is a bit too washed out looking for me--this is an action story. But it's still something kids will enjoy.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun cumulative story