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The Secret of the Painted House
When her family moves from Chicago to the country, nine-year-old Emily is drawn to a mysterious playhouse she finds in the woods and soon meets its sad, lonely inhabitant.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published July 10, 2007
8 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Marion Dane Bauer
180 books186 followersMarion Dane Bauer is the author of more than one hundred books for young people, ranging from novelty and picture books through early readers, both fiction and nonfiction, books on writing, and middle-grade and young-adult novels. She has won numerous awards, including several Minnesota Book Awards, a Jane Addams Peace Association Award for RAIN OF FIRE, an American Library Association Newbery Honor Award for ON MY HONOR, a number of state children's choice awards and the Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota for the body of her work.
She is also the editor of and a contributor to the ground-breaking collection of gay and lesbian short stories, Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence.
Marion was one of the founding faculty and the first Faculty Chair for the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her writing guide, the American Library Association Notable WHAT'S YOUR STORY? A YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO WRITING FICTION, is used by writers of all ages. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen different languages.
She has six grandchildren and lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her partner and a cavalier King Charles spaniel, Dawn.
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INTERVIEW WITH MARION DANE BAUER
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Q. What brought you to a career as a writer?
A. I seem to have been born with my head full of stories. For almost as far back as I can remember, I used most of my unoccupied moments--even in school when I was supposed to be doing other "more important" things--to make up stories in my head. I sometimes got a notation on my report card that said, "Marion dreams." It was not a compliment. But while the stories I wove occupied my mind in a very satisfying way, they were so complex that I never thought of trying to write them down. I wouldn't have known where to begin. So though I did all kinds of writing through my teen and early adult years--letters, journals, essays, poetry--I didn't begin to gather the craft I needed to write stories until I was in my early thirties. That was also when my last excuse for not taking the time to sit down to do the writing I'd so long wanted to do started first grade.
Q. And why write for young people?
A. Because I get my creative energy in examining young lives, young issues. Most people, when they enter adulthood, leave childhood behind, by which I mean that they forget most of what they know about themselves as children. Of course, the ghosts of childhood still inhabit them, but they deal with them in other forms--problems with parental authority turn into problems with bosses, for instance--and don't keep reaching back to the original source to try to fix it, to make everything come out differently than it did the first time. Most children's writers, I suspect, are fixers. We return, again and again, usually under the cover of made-up characters, to work things through. I don't know that our childhoods are necessarily more painful than most. Every childhood has pain it, because life has pain in it at every stage. The difference is that we are compelled to keep returning to the source.
Q. You write for a wide range of ages. Do you write from a different place in writing for preschoolers than for young adolescents?
A. In a picture book or board book, I'm always writing from the womb of the family, a place that--while it might be intruded upon by fears, for instance--is still, ultimately, safe and nurturing. That's what my own early childhood was like, so it's easy for me to return to those feelings and to recreate them.
When I write for older readers, I'm writing from a very different experience. My early adolescence, especially, was a time of deep alienation, mostly from my peers but in some ways from my family as well. And so I write my older stories out of that pain, that longing for connection. A story has to have a problem at its core. No struggle
She is also the editor of and a contributor to the ground-breaking collection of gay and lesbian short stories, Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence.
Marion was one of the founding faculty and the first Faculty Chair for the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her writing guide, the American Library Association Notable WHAT'S YOUR STORY? A YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO WRITING FICTION, is used by writers of all ages. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen different languages.
She has six grandchildren and lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her partner and a cavalier King Charles spaniel, Dawn.
-------------------------------------
INTERVIEW WITH MARION DANE BAUER
-------------------------------------
Q. What brought you to a career as a writer?
A. I seem to have been born with my head full of stories. For almost as far back as I can remember, I used most of my unoccupied moments--even in school when I was supposed to be doing other "more important" things--to make up stories in my head. I sometimes got a notation on my report card that said, "Marion dreams." It was not a compliment. But while the stories I wove occupied my mind in a very satisfying way, they were so complex that I never thought of trying to write them down. I wouldn't have known where to begin. So though I did all kinds of writing through my teen and early adult years--letters, journals, essays, poetry--I didn't begin to gather the craft I needed to write stories until I was in my early thirties. That was also when my last excuse for not taking the time to sit down to do the writing I'd so long wanted to do started first grade.
Q. And why write for young people?
A. Because I get my creative energy in examining young lives, young issues. Most people, when they enter adulthood, leave childhood behind, by which I mean that they forget most of what they know about themselves as children. Of course, the ghosts of childhood still inhabit them, but they deal with them in other forms--problems with parental authority turn into problems with bosses, for instance--and don't keep reaching back to the original source to try to fix it, to make everything come out differently than it did the first time. Most children's writers, I suspect, are fixers. We return, again and again, usually under the cover of made-up characters, to work things through. I don't know that our childhoods are necessarily more painful than most. Every childhood has pain it, because life has pain in it at every stage. The difference is that we are compelled to keep returning to the source.
Q. You write for a wide range of ages. Do you write from a different place in writing for preschoolers than for young adolescents?
A. In a picture book or board book, I'm always writing from the womb of the family, a place that--while it might be intruded upon by fears, for instance--is still, ultimately, safe and nurturing. That's what my own early childhood was like, so it's easy for me to return to those feelings and to recreate them.
When I write for older readers, I'm writing from a very different experience. My early adolescence, especially, was a time of deep alienation, mostly from my peers but in some ways from my family as well. And so I write my older stories out of that pain, that longing for connection. A story has to have a problem at its core. No struggle
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 23, 2016
The characters in the book are Emily, Logan, their mom, Grandma Rose, Pin and Pin's mom. Emily's family just moved to a new house. There were trees everywhere where they lived. Emily decided to go walk around and then she saw a playhouse in the forest. She went to the playhouse and looked inside it. She saw paintings in their. Then Emily went home. Then the next day Emily wanted to go back to the playhouse but she couldn't because she had to baby sit her baby brother Logan. After that she saw a lady named Grandma Rose. Grandma Rose came and talked to Emily about the playhouse. She told Emily about the playhouse and what happened. She told Emily about the girl in the painting in the playhouse named Pin. Emily wanted to go to the playhouse so bad she took Logan with her. She told Logan to pick flowers for their mom but she just went to the playhouse while Logan was picking flowers. Emily went inside the playhouse and she started hearing stuff. She saw Pin in the picture but Pin was talking to Emily. She told Emily to close her eyes and walk into the painting. Then Emily got into the painting. Emily started to get scared so she ran through Pin and got out of the painting and was looking for Logan so they could go home. But Logan was gone. Logan went into the painting. Emily heard Logan screaming for her. So Emily went back into the painting and looked for Logan. Emily found Logan with Pin at the picnic. She grabbed Logan and wanted to get out of the painting but she didn't know how. While Emily was busy talking to Pin, Logan started a fire and then Pin started screaming. Then at the end Pin's mother came back and then they showed Emily and Logan how to get out of the painting. This book is a really good book. In the beginning it was kind of boring but towards the middle and end it got better. I like this book! :D
June 21, 2015
I loved this book as a good, nonthreatening entry to ghost stories for kidlets UNTIL the author wrote a scene about a 9 year old and 4 year old starting a fire with matches stolen by the 4 year old (who knew how to build a fire). Seriously???
December 2, 2012
We've read the series of Ghost stories by Marion Dane Bauer featuring colorful ghosts. Our oldest loved these tales, and I appreciated that she could tell a spooky story that isn't too scary for children.
This story follows along in that vein, although I think it's the creepiest so far. The plot is engaging, but it ends a bit too abruptly. There were unanswered questions that our girls and I discussed after we finished the book, , and while I liked the story, I would've liked to have had more of these questions answered by the book.
Overall, it's a good book for children who are starting to read chapter books and for those who enjoy a scary tale. The story isn't too long, and we read it all at one time. We liked this story and will certainly look for more of her books at our local library.
This story follows along in that vein, although I think it's the creepiest so far. The plot is engaging, but it ends a bit too abruptly. There were unanswered questions that our girls and I discussed after we finished the book, , and while I liked the story, I would've liked to have had more of these questions answered by the book.
Overall, it's a good book for children who are starting to read chapter books and for those who enjoy a scary tale. The story isn't too long, and we read it all at one time. We liked this story and will certainly look for more of her books at our local library.
April 27, 2010
9 year old Emily and her little brother Logan have just moved to a house in the country with no other kids around. Logan's just too little to play with so Emily goes out into the woods by herself and finds a real house just the right size for her. When she looks through the window she sees that the house is empty but there are trees painted on the walls and a painting of a house exactly like the house she's looking into. And peeking around one of the trees is another little girl...
This is a transitional chapter book for 2nd and 3rd graders. There are only 7 chapters, a few pictures, and large easy to read text. But it was pretty scary! It wasn't long enough to really develop the characters and the plot and the resolution seemed rather abrupt, but I think it would be a great book for a 7 or 8 year old who's looking for something scary.
This is a transitional chapter book for 2nd and 3rd graders. There are only 7 chapters, a few pictures, and large easy to read text. But it was pretty scary! It wasn't long enough to really develop the characters and the plot and the resolution seemed rather abrupt, but I think it would be a great book for a 7 or 8 year old who's looking for something scary.
February 15, 2017
Part of Random House's Stepping Stone reading program. The concept of entering a painting and being trapped in there is not a new one, but it is executed well in this spooky ghost story for young readers. I would have given this children's chapter book four stars, but how does a four-year-old get hold of matches and know how to use them?
October 13, 2011
A good "scary" book for the really young. There are some topics that might be a little "old" for the targeted age group. Such as Pin's mom "leaving her." But overall it was good, I was even a little spooked!
October 14, 2018
I liked it when she found the house. I liked when she met that girl. It was kind of silly--she went into the wall. And I liked when the fire burned the picture so they could get out of the picture. I liked the story a lot. I wish it was longer though.
February 7, 2022
Like the multiple reflections when looking into dual mirrors, what if there are multiple houses in the painted house within a painted house within yet another painted house, etc. Great easy-to-read fantasy for middle grades.
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February 23, 2020Read this in elementary school and I loved it. It’s a nice little scary story for young kids looking to be spooked
July 20, 2021
It's fast paced and intense, and definitely a fun read.
January 6, 2011
Emily finds a mysterious playhouse in the woods with a mural of the woods that surround it painted on the walls inside. She finds out that the girl the house was built for died in a fire years ago but her ghost lives on in the mural and wants Emily to join her! Spooky! --Rachel
j/first chapter/Bauer
j/first chapter/Bauer
August 22, 2012
A cute little story for younger readers and a quick read. Emily's family moves to a new house near the woods. In the woods she finds a little painted house and in the house the walls are painted to look like the woods with the little house in it. And in the picture of the house is a little girl who is lonely and wants Emily to stay forever.
September 1, 2007
This title starts off really promising and quite eerie. It's a feat to write something for the really beginning readers that contain such sense of danger and mystery. The resolution leaves something to be desired, though. A pity.
February 22, 2009
For 3rd/4th grade. A not so scary, scary story for younger kids. Emily moves to a new place, finds a locked playhouse in the woods, and meets a girl who lives in the drawings inside the playhouse who doesn't want to let her new friend leave.
May 17, 2015
When her family moves from Chicago to the country, nine-year-old Emily is drawn to a mysterious playhouse she finds in the woods and soon meets its sad, lonely inhabitant.
February 6, 2008
A haunted playhouse in the woods! Easy to read, not too scary. Author wrote Blue Ghost (3rd place Bluebonnet).
July 23, 2008
Emily just wants to get away from her new house in the forest, but when she gets trapped in a strange playhouse in the woods, she realizes home is just where she wants to be.
August 16, 2008
I was a bit disappointed with this one. I suppose I could say it was a bit of a mystery/scary story and give it to those who need beginning chapter books.
July 28, 2010
I would have enjoyed it more when I was little. It reminded me of a much better written "Are you afraid of the dark?" episode. Pleasantly spooky and wonderfully written.
July 16, 2011
It was a great read. I never would have thought of having a playhouse being cursed. Very good!
November 21, 2011
Nine year's old Emily is a brave girl
December 1, 2012
Its about a little girl who's missing from her mom and she's trapped in a painting and she got lonely until she got helped. A.
December 10, 2012
i loved this book. i think this is a cool book because i gives you a question after question and it keeps you reading!!!
July 25, 2013
I was downloading from 3M Cloud Library title list and recognized Marion Dane Bauer and decided to read.
October 20, 2013
To me i thought this book was really interesting,so i read it in the middle of the book i was so into that i finished the book in less than 2days, i really enjoyed.
January 3, 2016
When her family moves from Chicago to the country, nine-year-old Emily is drawn to a mysterious playhouse she finds in the woods and soon meets its sad, lonely inhabitant.
April 17, 2017
Emily was walking in the woods. she wanted to look and see if she could look in side this hose she found in the woods. but she broke a window so, she called her friend over then. they went in the hose and her friend loved to brake stuff.
the main characters in this story are Emily and Logan. Emily said "Logan come here i broke this window."she thought that she was going to get in trouble. seance that she got her friend her friend loved to broke a lot of stuff. Emily has a big effect on Logan. Emily is a teenage girl.
I can not relate to any thang in this story because nothing happened in this story that I can relate to.I can relate to Logan because I love to brake stuff as well.
I like this story because I love mystery. My favoret part in this book is when she brakes the window because I love to brake stuff. my least favoret part in this book is when she tells her friend because why tell your friend. the author did well on when he describes the house. i say just leave the book the same.
I would recommend this book because I really loved this book. I would recommend this book to any one who loves mystery.
the main characters in this story are Emily and Logan. Emily said "Logan come here i broke this window."she thought that she was going to get in trouble. seance that she got her friend her friend loved to broke a lot of stuff. Emily has a big effect on Logan. Emily is a teenage girl.
I can not relate to any thang in this story because nothing happened in this story that I can relate to.I can relate to Logan because I love to brake stuff as well.
I like this story because I love mystery. My favoret part in this book is when she brakes the window because I love to brake stuff. my least favoret part in this book is when she tells her friend because why tell your friend. the author did well on when he describes the house. i say just leave the book the same.
I would recommend this book because I really loved this book. I would recommend this book to any one who loves mystery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews