Marc Brown's Playtime Rhymes: A Treasury for Families to Learn and Play Together
K-Gr 1–Fans of Brown's Hand Rhymes (Penguin, 1985) will be thrilled to see this new collection, which uses a similar visual format to teach rhymes and their accompanying actions. The book offers 20 participatory rhymes, seven of which were included in Hand Rhymes. Each one is colorfully illustrated using gouache and colored pencils on gessoed wooden panels. Paint was scraped away and overpainted in places to create texture. Small boxed line drawings match up with each line of text, suggesting interactive motions. Some rhymes are just for fingers (“Whoops! Johnny,” “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”), while others make use of the whole body (“I'm a Little Teapot,” “The Wheels on the Bus”). The well-known rhymes span the seasons. With its clean design and classic feel, this welcome title will be useful for programming and for adults who want to take home some of the fun from storytime.–Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MAα(c) Copyright 2013.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.