ABSTRACT

Barbara, the reading specialist in a fifth-grade classroom, held the book Terrible Things (Bunting, 1989) up high, sometimes standing, other times walking through the room. Her voice sounded out clear, but instead of cutting through the silence of the classroom, it mingled with it, so that the silence and her voice were enveloped in the world of the story. There was a busy working chatter outside in another classroom, but no one noticed, for the dark, shadowy Terrible Things were taking away birds, squirrels, frogs, and fish for absolutely no reason at all The other animals watched worriedly but passively, thinking that they would be safe. But they were not.