Genre
Picture books for children
Stories in rhyme
Subject
Animals
Fear
Fear in animals
Jumping
Smallness and bigness
Search

This book is about animals making each other jump. It start with a frog making a bug jump and then a bug makes another animal jump and so on. I like this book because is so cute and has a good word choice. I would use this book in my classroom for something fun to read. This book is good for kids at the age of first and second grade. ( )

Children who enjoy this musical romp along the food chain may grow up to appreciate Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf or that crazy wonderful "Food Chain" episode of Adventure Time. The audience embraces the point of view of a cartoonish animal resting content in its favorite spot until it notices a predator nearby and we all JUMP! Predator becomes prey in the next iteration of the rhythmic tale. The characters wear goofy expressions in bold watercolors that leap off the page. The repeating zoom effect of the illustrations mirrors the fluctuating intensity of the narrative.

The book was, in fact, based on a song and readily lends itself to chanting and dancing. Start each verse quiet for the sleepy animal (and use repetition to get some extra mileage out of the first line: "Well, I'm a bug, I'm a bug / I'm a snug little bug / Well, I'm a bug, I'm a bug / And I'm sleeping on this jug"). Then draw out the suspense of the approaching predator ("Untilllllllll... I see a frog and I...") before unleashing the mosh pit with "JUMP!" Use a motion, such as squatting and placing hands on the ground, to reset the quiet chant. The promise of getting to relive the suspense and release will help bring the crowd along.

One for the ukelele someday.

25 months - a cute book. Not too wordy, more for the one year old crowd. ( )

simple story, good rhyme, JUMP! ( )