MAKE WAY FOR READERS

Link nursery rhymes with storytimes, add animal characters and whimsical illustrations, and voilà: a rollicking, rhyming story.

It opens with: “Make way for the readers, / the riders, the rollers, / arriving in backpacks, / on bikes, and in strollers.” Assorted animals parade up to the gate adorned with the sign “Miss Bingo Storytime.” Miss Bingo is a singing flamingo who shares tales of kittens with mittens, Miss Muffet and her tuffet, and other favorite rhymes. The group raps to “The Cat and the Fiddle,” and Miss Bingo honks for the little ones to stretch high and low during a break. Oh no! The crocodile accidentally treads on mouse Annabelle’s toe. She makes a fuss, and storytime stops—until fox Rory reads her a slightly altered Mother Goose rhyme (“Annabelle Mousey-kin ran up the clock”). The colored-pencil illustrations have just the right amount of whimsy to fully entertain readers, who will love spotting familiar favorites in Miss Bingo’s backyard library. Miss Bingo wears a green dress, red eyeglasses on a pearl neck chain, and a jazzy green boater hat, and the other animals are just as jauntily attired. In particular, Rufus, the clumsy croc, sports a black tank top and red ball cap worn backward.

Any adult who has ever read to a group of preschoolers will grin with delight over these familiar antics, and regular storytimers will enjoy seeing this favorite activity depicted