I Got the Rhythm
Music is everywhere in the city, but a warm summer day in the park makes it downright infectious. A young African American girl leaves the house with her mother, using all her senses to find rhythm everywhere as they walk. Before long, she has gathered the playground children for a dance routine and inspires an impromptu marching band that fills the park with a riot of sound, color, and movement. Schofield-Morrison has created a celebration of the urban environment. Though nameless, our narrator radiates charm with her puff-ball pigtails, snapping fingers, and effervescent joy at experiencing the city’s sounds. The bright palette and vibrant tones of Morrison’s loosely painted illustrations echo the energy of the text nicely, and Morrison employs some unusual compositions to heighten the sense of movement. With text like “STOMP STOMP” and “BEAT BOP” strewn across the pages, the book begs readers to sing and move along with this little dancer as she “pops and locks, hips and hops” her way through the sunny afternoon. Preschool-Kindergarten. --Summer Hayes