Zigzag

December 1, 2004
PreS-K. With interactive scenarios, thumping rhymes, and lots of repetitive nonsense, these "zoems" will have preschoolers joining in the words and movements. As with Mother Goose, the fun is as much in the silliness and the sounds of the words as in any meaning. The subjects are dear to the audience (mud, Popsicles, pets, paint, monkeys). Although this has neither the wealth of information nor the tender illustrations of Rosemary Wells' beautiful " My Kindergarten" [BKL Ag 04], it will be great for reading aloud, even with the lap-sitting audience, and the cheerful watercolor, pencil, and gouache art, with a touch of cartoonlike humor, adds to the appeal with images of kids jumping to the "zigga zagga beat."(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2005
PreS-K -Twenty-two silly rhymes about kindergarten life. Beginning with "Kindergarten Rocks!" the rollicking poems are full of energy and opportunities for participation. "Anything's a Drum" makes for an ideal action poem with the cadenced lines, "anything's a drum drum/a can can be a drum drum/tabletop's a drum drum/chair a double chum drum." There is a logical progression to the selections, beginning with a verse about the start of the school day and flowing naturally into offerings about art activities, the classroom hamster, alphabet and math games, walking home safely, and the comfort of an after-school kitchen. The watercolor cartoons show examples of student art projects and the joy of participating in classroom activities. Many of the selections are appropriate for fingerplays and action rhymes for storytimes, or could be used to fill spare moments between lessons. Pair this book with Joseph Slate's "Miss Bindergarten" titles (Dutton) and Nancy Carlson's "Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come!" (Viking, 1999)." -Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.