Sing-Along Song
PreSchool-Grade 1–From early morning, when he awakens to the chirping of a robin, to evening, when he finally stills his own voice to listen to the moon's soft good night, an exuberant African-American boy joins in the song of the animals and people in his world. "I burst out singin'! I just gotta sing along," he cries each time he hears a bee's "honey-buzzin' song," a squirrel's "chitter-chat song," or his cat's "yowl-meowlin' song." The rhyming language reads like a chant, and the different ditties the little boy sings are presented in large, dark print, inviting readers to chime in. Such melodies as, "Whuffle-snuff, woofle-whiff!/Giggle, sniggle, snort, sniff!" will surely tickle funny bones. Pham's double-page, watercolor-and-ink paintings on textured, sepia-colored backgrounds offer wonderful close-ups of the child interacting with various songsters. Those showing him nose to tongue with his dog or with his finger in his baby sister's fist as he sings her an "I love you" lullaby are particularly charming. The rhythm, repetition, and tongue-twisting silliness of the text and the large, inviting pictures will entice even the youngest listeners to join this chorus.–Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CTCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.