Bouncing on the Bed

PreSchool-An energetic preschooler bounces, slides, wiggles, runs, dances, hides, cooks, sings, and reads through the day-and finally snuggles in bed with a hug and a kiss from his parents. Lively, sun-drenched watercolor paintings on double-page spreads show an inviting summertime world. The outdoor scenes are filled with grass and flowers as the round-faced, blue-eyed child and his shaggy-haired dog splash through a brook and roll down a hill. The indoor scenes are more peaceful and cozy. Each phase of the day-waking, eating, playtime, bathing-is described in a short rhyme that uses the same verse form as "The Farmer in the Dell": "Bouncing on the bed,/I'm bouncing on the bed./The sun is up./The day is new./I'm bouncing on the bed." (The text could be sung to the same tune, too.) With the large pictures and the familiar activities described, this book would be a good selection for toddler time, and the infectious rhythm of the verse will invite participation from preschool storytime participants.
Marian Drabkin, Richmond Public Library, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Combining saccharine visuals with a monotonous ditty, this book follows a child from morning wake-up to evening snuggle-down with no fewer than 13 stanzas modeled on ``The Farmer in the Dell'' and static illustrations in which the young, chubby-cheeked narrator, whose wide eyes are generally looking off to the side, is awkwardly posedsometimes floating slightlyagainst generic indoor and outdoor scenes. His mother looks about ten, his father perhaps five years older. The author and illustrator have done much better work in the past; pass this up in favor of Nancy White Carlstrom's evergreen Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? (1986). (Picture book. 5-7) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.