SHAKE IT UP, BABY!

A plastic rattle embedded in the spine promises a two-in-one literary treat. A bouncy rhyming text follows a typically multiethnic Katz cast of hugely round-headed tots as they are exhorted to “Shake your body, / bounce and giggle! / Shake your rattle… / spin and wiggle.” Key words are printed in color, providing visual cues to match sound to text. The cheery pastel palette provides appropriate contrast, assisted by the illustrator’s trademark heavy outlines, and extra visual interest is provided by the varicolored backgrounds against which the babies romp. As lit’rature goes, it’s not a world-beater, but for developmentally appropriate fun, it can hold its head high among its peers. And it makes noise. (1-2)