Ten babies boogie down in McMullan’s ebullient offering. But it’s a multicultural quartet that takes center stage (“Charlotte plays the rattle, / Denny plays the drum, / Bip and Ling have bells to ring. / HERE THEY COME!”); raucous “backup babies” accompany them. McMullan’s snappy verse is full of action words. The chorus—“Oh, shake it, baby, shake it, / Shake it if you can. / Shake it, baby, shake it / with the Rock-a-Baby Band”—will have listeners bopping along. Bynum’s full-bleed illustrations are just as captivating. Created with digital watercolors, and employing a springy palette, the images are trimmed with strong black lines, which make them appear animated. Author and illustrator are well matched here, and the result is a rockin’ choice for preschool partiers. But be warned—according to Bip and Ling, “Rockers don’t take naps.” A CD is included. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-316-60858-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2003
Categories: CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS
Did you like this book?
A snappy rhyming text celebrates an extended family’s joyous gyrations to the jazz spinning on the turntable. From waking to sleep, Baby’s right in the thick of it, as siblings, grandparents and cousins move and groove: “So they BOOM-BOOM-BOOM / and they HIP-HIP-HOP / and the bouncin’ baby boogies with a BOP-BOP-BOP.” Wheeler’s verse scans beautifully and begs to be read aloud—danced to, even—making this a fine choice for preschool and kindergarten story times. Christie’s bold, double-paged gouache compositions locate this colorfully garbed, expressively hip family within an equally vibrant community. As Baby’s big dark eyes get glassy with fatigue, the party winds down. “Daddy sings blues. / Mama sings sweet. / While that snoozy-woozy baby . . . / . . . sleeps deep, deep, deep.” Exultant and infectious, from the red-and-yellow-striped endpapers to the final “OH YEAH!” (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-15-202522-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2007
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
Did you like this book?
© Copyright 2022 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
