Nora’s room is a frightening place. It has “keep out” signs plastered all over the door, and the strangest noises keep coming from inside it, making Nora’s mother say, “Something is going on in Nora’s room.” Even though she’s busy in the kitchen and watching the twins, she decides she’d better go investigate, even though something tells her she’s not going to like what she sees.
Maybe every animal in the county zoo is on the loose and found their way to Nora’s room. It certainly sounds like it. It could be a bear dancing with a moose, or some hippos having fun hopping. Even the family dog is not amused at all the racket.
The noise is not unlike that of sixteen pumpkins being dropped. Or perhaps a group of monkeys playing duck, duck, goose. “Something’s going on in Nora’s room,” Mother says, feeding the twins a few bites before going to investigate. The poor woman is probably delaying the inevitable for as long as she can. I know how she feels . . .
Maybe London Bridge really is falling down up there. Perhaps there’s a dog fight, complete with a ring and referee and everything. A rodeo, complete with a bucking bronco? Or how about some rhinos playing musical chairs?
Dancing elephants! That must be it. Mother approaches with caution. She knows that whatever it is, she’s not going to like it. She calls out, “What’s going on in there?”
Nora opens her door and replies, “Oh, nothing.” She, of course, has a perfectly angelic look on her face when she says it, too.
Every mother who has ever had a child will understand precisely.
This cute picture book is illustrated in bright colors with a lot of imagination by the author’s own sister, Lindsay Harper duPont.
(This book was published in 2001 by HarperCollins.)
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