by Jessica Young ; illustrated by Daniel Wiseman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 22, 2018
Whether it’s storytime for a large group or one-on-one laptime, just try and stop kids from following this book’s titular...
A hands-on approach (literally) to the wide and wonderful world of instruments.
Seven instruments sit on a stage, ready and waiting to be played. A multiracial cast of kids instructs young readers on how to play each instrument. As readers strum the picture of the guitar, bang the drum, or tap the piano keys, onomatopoeic sounds are spelled out in large display type on the page. By the time readers come to the performance at the end they’ll need little urging to get their groove on as well. Wiseman’s art cleverly makes each instrument something readers can “play,” blowing them up on the page and even forcing the occasional 90-degree turn when it suits. Librarians and caregivers should prepare for rips, tears, and other signs of adoration-turned-annihilation from young fans as they take to these instruments with gusto. Interactive picture books may be a dime a dozen, but this latest product of the post–Press Here (2011) era makes for a clever combination of interactive elements and good old-fashioned read-aloud know-how. Interestingly, the companion title, Pet This Book, is less successful, concentrating instead on petting, feeding, and caring for animals. Though well-intentioned, it lacks the bombast and wit of Play This Book’s premise.
Whether it’s storytime for a large group or one-on-one laptime, just try and stop kids from following this book’s titular encouragement. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 22, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-506-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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by Connie Schofield-Morrison ; illustrated by Frank Morrison ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 3, 2014
A lively celebration of music and expressive dance.
The beat is all around her when a girl takes a walk in the park with her mother.
On a lovely summer day, a young African-American girl in a bright pink sundress and matching sneakers sees, smells, sings, claps and snaps her fingers to an internal rhythm. As a boom box plays its song and a drummer taps his beat, neighborhood children join her in an energetic, pulsating dance culminating in a rousing musical parade. Schofield-Morrison’s brief text has a shout-it-out element as each spread resounds with a two-word phrase: “I shook a rhythm with my hips. /SHAKE SHAKE”; “I tapped the rhythm with my toes. / TIP TAP.” Morrison’s full-bleed, textured oil paintings capture the joy of a mother and daughter in an urban park surrounded by musicians, food vendors and many exuberant children. Read this aloud with music playing loudly—not in the background. Morrison is a Coretta Scott King/New Talent Award winner, and this is a fine debut for his wife in their first collaboration.
A lively celebration of music and expressive dance. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 3, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61963-178-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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by Connie Schofield-Morrison ; illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon
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by Kelly Starling Lyons ; illustrated by Luke Flowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2016
It’s a bit hard to dance, or count, to this beat.
Dinos that love to move and groove get children counting from one to 10—and perhaps moving to the beat.
Beginning with a solo bop by a female dino (she has eyelashes, doncha know), the dinosaur dance party begins. Each turn of the page adds another dino and a change in the dance genre: waltz, country line dancing, disco, limbo, square dancing, hip-hop, and swing. As the party would be incomplete without the moonwalk, the T. Rex does the honors…and once they are beyond their initial panic at his appearance, the onlookers cheer wildly. The repeated refrain on each spread allows for audience participation, though it doesn’t easily trip off the tongue: “They hear a swish. / What’s this? / One more? / One more dino on the floor.” Some of the prehistoric beasts are easily identifiable—pterodactyl, ankylosaurus, triceratops—but others will be known only to the dino-obsessed; none are identified, other than T-Rex. Packed spreads filled with psychedelically colored dinos sporting blocks of color, stripes, or polka dots (and infectious looks of joy) make identification even more difficult, to say nothing of counting them. Indeed, this fails as a counting primer: there are extra animals (and sometimes a grumpy T-Rex) in the backgrounds, and the next dino to join the party pokes its head into the frame on the page before. Besides all that, most kids won’t get the dance references.
It’s a bit hard to dance, or count, to this beat. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8075-1598-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
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by Kelly Starling Lyons ; illustrated by Wayne Spencer
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