George deftly captures the frenetic life that is toddlerhood in this sprightly outing designed primarily as a concept tale to convey the notion of “up.” She uses short, snappy rhymes delivered in staccato fashion to express a toddler’s boundless enthusiasm for all things, including being aloft. A trip to the park, scaling the great height of the playground slide and even tumbling down a grassy knoll provide useful contrasts of being up versus down. George’s fun-filled romp is tempered with poignancy as tot and pop settle on a branch—after climbing up the tree—in a rare moment of stillness. Nakata’s watercolor illustrations burst off the pages in a riot of invigorating hues, mingling lemon yellow, crisp sea-foam green and vibrant tangerine hues to create a visual palette that is as vivacious as the tale. George’s bubbly tale is just the right thing to capture a bustling toddler’s attention. (Picture book. 2-4)
