In 32 lickety-split verses, Dotlich not only reproduces the typical pace and sound of traditional jump-rope rhymes, but most of their common tropes, too, from “Teapot, teapot, / kettle and can. / Mixer, masher, / pudding and pan,” to “Jillian, Jillian, / where will you go? / To Denmark, / To Sweden, / to pick out a beau.” With but few exceptions—“Pepperoni. / Cheese on top. / Spin the rope / around and stop”—her nonsense also ably captures that timeless, folkloric quality that draws generations of rope-jumpers to the old chestnuts. Though the small flip-figure Hall places in alternate right bottom corners doesn’t quite work (there aren’t enough pages in this format to create the appearance of movement), her larger illustrations mix paint, cut paper, and other media to depict each poem’s central image with appropriate vim. This winning combination of infectious rhythms and easy-to-learn rhymes will have young audiences jumping at the chance to skip, or clap, along. (Picture book/poetry. 6-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-59078-027-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2004
With an eye toward easy memorization, Katz gathers over 50 short poems from the likes of Emily Dickinson, Valerie Worth, Jack Prelutsky, and Lewis Carroll, to such anonymous gems as “The Burp”—“Pardon me for being rude. / It was not me, it was my food. / It got so lonely down below, / it just popped up to say hello.” Katz includes five of her own verses, and promotes an evident newcomer, Emily George, with four entries. Hafner surrounds every selection with fine-lined cartoons, mostly of animals and children engaged in play, reading, or other familiar activities. Amid the ranks of similar collections, this shiny-faced newcomer may not stand out—but neither will it drift to the bottom of the class. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-525-47172-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2004
A dozen familiar dinosaurs introduce themselves in verse in this uninspired, if colorful, new animal gallery from the authors of Commotion in the Ocean (2000). Smiling, usually toothily, and sporting an array of diamonds, lightning bolts, spikes and tiger stripes, the garishly colored dinosaurs make an eye-catching show, but their comments seldom measure up to their appearance: “I’m a swimming reptile, / I dive down in the sea. / And when I spot a yummy squid, / I eat it up with glee!” (“Ichthyosaurus”) Next to the likes of Kevin Crotty’s Dinosongs (2000), illustrated by Kurt Vargo, or Jack Prelutsky’s classic Tyrannosaurus Was A Beast (1988), illustrated by Arnold Lobel, there’s not much here to roar about. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-58925-044-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2005
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