Swamp song

PreS-Gr 2-Old Man Gator begins this story in rhyme by tapping his toes "down in the swamp where the cypress grows." He is soon joined by Ibis, who flaps her wings at the water's edge. Moorhen calls to her chicks, and Wood Stork is "clackin' her bill/and puffin' her chest" as she leaves her nest. Added to these distinctive sounds are Dragonfly's whirring wings, Wild Boar's grunts, and Bullfrog's croaks. Black Bear sharpens his claws on a cypress tree, while Pygmy Rattler shakes his rattles. Red Fox warns Gator away from her kits with a "yip, yip, yippity-yip,/YIP, YIP, YIP." The sunny illustrations are done with colored ink lines and acrylic wash paint against mostly white backgrounds. Each animal musician wears just enough clothing to establish an attitude-like Woodpecker's black leather vest and chain necklace or Squirrel's cowboy hat and fringed vest. Children will be tapping their toes with Old Man Gator and creating their own cacophony of swamp sounds as they learn about the inhabitants of this habitat.-Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

"Down in the swamp / where the cypress grows, / Old Man Gator" starts the rhythm "with a tip, tap, tippity-tap." Swamp flora in Goembel's acrylic wash and colored ink lines aptly frame center stage, where jazzily dressed fauna engage in combinations of sounds and moves. Each double-page spread introduces a new animalaerial creatures such as the ibis and the wood stork, land animals such as the black bear and the pygmy rattler and water creatures such as the bullfrog and the river ottermaking for a comfortable mix of the familiar and unfamiliar. Ketteman sets a you-can't-help-but-chant-it verse pattern that incorporates a different onomatopoeic sound for each animal, from the dragonfly's "whir, whirr, whirrity-whirr" to the fox squirrel's "chit, chee, chittety-chee." These set the stage for a musical jamboree in which all 13 animals complete this satisfying presentation, performing their signature moves and tones one at a time, handing off the final "TIP, TAP, TAP" to Old Man Gator. Oh, yeah. (Picture book. 2-4) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

PreS-Gr 2—Old Man Gator begins this story in rhyme by tapping his toes "down in the swamp where the cypress grows." He is soon joined by Ibis, who flaps her wings at the water's edge. Moorhen calls to her chicks, and Wood Stork is "clackin' her bill/and puffin' her chest" as she leaves her nest. Added to these distinctive sounds are Dragonfly's whirring wings, Wild Boar's grunts, and Bullfrog's croaks. Black Bear sharpens his claws on a cypress tree, while Pygmy Rattler shakes his rattles. Red Fox warns Gator away from her kits with a "yip, yip, yippity-yip,/YIP, YIP, YIP." The sunny illustrations are done with colored ink lines and acrylic wash paint against mostly white backgrounds. Each animal musician wears just enough clothing to establish an attitude—like Woodpecker's black leather vest and chain necklace or Squirrel's cowboy hat and fringed vest. Children will be tapping their toes with Old Man Gator and creating their own cacophony of swamp sounds as they learn about the inhabitants of this habitat.—Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN