Old Devil Wind

by Bill Martin Jr., Barry Root (Illustrator)

In this cumulative tale that begins on “one dark and stormy night,” Ghost begins to wail. Then Candle flickers. Floor creaks. Owl hoots. And Wind begins to blow . . . and blow . . . and BLOW. . . . “The mounting cadence will be splendid aloud; kids will begin to chime in on the first reading. Root’s dark, swirling paintings of the thoroughly haunted house, lit with a ghostly glow, are right in the proper spirit.”-- Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Halloween, Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Storytime

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Bill Martin, Jr. (1916-2004) was an elementary-school principal, teacher, writer, and poet. His more than 300 books, among them the bestselling classics Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See ; Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear ; Panda Bear Panda Bear What Do You See ; and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom , are a testament to his ability to speak directly to children. Martin held a doctoral degree in early childhood education. Born in Kansas, he worked as an elementary-school principal in Chicago before moving to New York City, where he worked in publishing, developing innovative reading programs for schools. After several years, he devoted himself full-time to writing his children's books. He lived in New York until 1993, when he moved to Texas. He lived in the east Texas woods, near the town of Commerce, until he passed away in 2004.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/billma...

Reviews

[Qt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice picture book--I think little kids would like the repetition and the sound effects. I enjoyed the spooky Halloween atmosphere and all the different "scary" sounds such as the owl hooting and the door slamming.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old Devil Wind, illustrated by Barry Root

One dark and stormy night Ghost begins to wail, setting off a chain reaction in the objects around him, as Stool begins to thump, Broom begins to swish, Candle begins to flicker, Fire begins to smoke, Window begins to rattle, Floor begins to creak, Door begins to slam, Owl begins to hoot, and Witch begins to circle the haunted house in which all of this activity is going on. This catches Wind's attention, and his reaction blows all away... until the next Halloween!

Originally published in 1971 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, with artwork done by Robert J. Lee, Old Devil Wind was republished in this 1993 edition by Harcourt Brace & Company, with new illustrations done by Barry Root. I've seen selections of the artwork from that earlier edition, and it looks very striking—I'd like to track it down at some point. That said, this more recent edition is lovely as well, with a spooky repetition tale, in which each object asks the previous one what it is doing, and is regaled in return with a (growing) list of all the actions that came before. Root's artwork, done in watercolor and gouache, is suitably spooky, although my favorite part (probably not a surprise given my devotion to witchy tales) was the witch. Recommended to picture book readers and audiences in the mood for spooky Halloween tales that incorporate a repetitive structure and lots of great sound words.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated picture book about an old house on Halloween. Although as an adult I find reading books that use repetition tiring, I expect a child would enjoy this and perhaps be able to join in. It might be one you might want to put away as part of a seasonal collection! The illustrations are lovely, having read goodreads friend Abigail’s review it seems like there is a new version of this book with new illustrations. I really enjoyed these illustrations, a little ghost, a self sweeping broom, a witch and many other haunted house things.

Read on Open Library.

[Jennifer Strong · Rating 2 out of 5]

On a dark and stormy night ghost wails, stool thumps, broom swishes, candle flickers, fire smokes, window rattles, floor creaks, door slams, owl hoots, witch flies around the house, and wind blows. The wind blows so long and hard that it blows the house and everything in it away- only to return again on Halloween night.
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While there isn't much to the story, the text is repetitive and has plenty of onomatopoeia's to make it interesting and interactive.

[Sean Harding · Rating 2 out of 5]

Martin Quest #26
The Martin Quest has had a run of these Halloween themed books and this one plays out like one of those games where you are going on a picnic for example and you say I am taking X and then have to remember all the things the other people in the game are taking.
Lots of repetition, which is good for learning, although in this case, unless you are learning some vocabulary, not a lot to learn.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the spooky ambiance of this book, and all the spooky, spine-shivery sounds you get to make! The story builds upon itself, so maybe it would be fun to have kids come up in a line to do each sound as it repeats throughout the story. The gray-tone images were really atmospheric.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun little children’s book with good pictures & great written sound effects to go along with the spooky story of a haunted house. Good fun!

[Amanda Kusant · Rating 4 out of 5]

*The version I have has paintings by Robert J. Lee, and they are terrifying. I love the artwork in this, but it could really creep kids out.

[Juli Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Performative, but with no real substance.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect spooky book.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was kind of weird. Kids may like this book, but I thought there were many holes, and the only purpose of the book was to be a participation book with all of the repetition. For example,if the house was in such disrepair, and it was quite possibly abandoned, why was there a fire burning? The only way this book would be halfway entertaining would be if you are a kid who likes "scary" things, and if you had sound effects for all of the things the items were doing in the house to make the read more interesting.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a young readers' Halloween-themed book, this is a good one! Good sequencing, repetitive words, and descriptions that ellicit sounds are nicely done. The illustrations are also spooky, enhancing the mood of the story.

Okay, it helps this book that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Still, I liked it!

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a great book to use for Halloween. Students can also use this when preparing or learning how to locate their head register and use their voice appropriately. While reading this book you can also allow students to move around and dance, exploring the movements their body makes.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Participation - This book is a great book to use for an activity in October around Halloween. You could have the children split into groups and make the different sounds. You could also bring in instruments and do a music lesson.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a dark and stormy night one object after another joins in making eerie noises in the old house.

Because of the repetition and predictability of the story, the kids love to participate in the story with the sound effects of the characters. Good use and examples of onomatopoeia.

[Cindy Pardew]

A ghost starts the wailing in a house, which gives everything else a reason to make noises until the wind blows them away until halloween.

[Alnora]

The colors and elements in the picture match the story perfectly. Great for Halloween time. It reminded me of Fantasia, by Disney.

[RaeLene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Participation: This is a good book for teaching sequencing. Throughout the book new objects decide to make noise on a dark stormy night.

[Lauren Richards]

A story about a dark and stormy night at a haunted house where each object makes a noise. Kids can join in by making the noises.
(participation)

[Corri Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this during a 4th grade read-a-thon. I liked it. I would be a good picture book to use for sequencing.

[Tamara the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple, repetitive text about the different sounds in a creepy old house on a dark and stormy night.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Or is it Old Devil Susie???

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute but by the end I was tired of repeating. Perhaps if I had done hand motions or something it would have helped. The illustrations are dark and suitably dreary.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my money, this is what a halloween-ish picture book should be. A cumulative/summative story featuring all the creepy trappings of a dark and stormy night.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this book from the library for Halloween . . . boys loved it, I liked it and we must have read it every night that we had it.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good one for Halloween! Not too scary cumulative story for preschool through grade school. Illustrations are wonderfully dark and spooky. Kids love it during story time!

[Margarita Bastar]

for my students?

[Melissa Carroll]

Good storytime book for halloweentime, lots of repetition to make it fun!