OFF WE GO!

Little ones know that Grandma’s house is best! A mouse, a frog, a mole, a snake, a duck, and a spider tippity toe, hipppity hop, diggity dig, slithery slee, and scritchity scratch as they creep and dig, dash and freefall on their way to Grandma’s house. Three rhymed lines and a refrain introduce each animal. Then, a cumulative verse, repeating only the action words, brings each animal into the picture one at a time until they are all cavorting pell-mell through the pages. Yolen’s verse is occasionally vivid, but some of the adjectives and verbs she uses for rhymes are contrived. Molk’s subdued watercolor illustrations are playful, graceful and gentle. Many have interesting details that draw the eye deeply into the picture. Spider webs in unexpected places, insects, imperfections in reeds, and lichens on logs increase the pictorial interest in the quiet two-page spreads and round out the action in the livelier ones. Without these pictures, the telling might still be engaging, but they are what set it above the ordinary. Pick this up, lickety split. (Picture book. 2-6)