The Ring Went Zing!: A Story That Ends With a Kiss - Hardcover

Sean Taylor splits his time between England and Brazil.

Jill Barton lives in Devon, England.

PreSchool-Grade 2 This story opens on a whimsical note: Once upon a time.../once and never again.../just once.../a frog and a chicken fell in love. A cumulative tale ensues as the frog presents his beloved with a lovely golden ring and it skips away, bouncing by a jogging swan, a skateboarding rabbit, a goat on a tricycle, and a singing dachshund who's leaning on his motorbike. Each animal tries to catch the elusive ring and invites the previous group to jump on its vehicle. The ending is happier than happy. Taylor is an accomplished poet, and the ring isn't the only thing that goes Zing! here. The illustrations are every bit as fizzy as the writing. Barton uses a white background to set off gently colorful and lightly outlined shapes and a font that sometimes changes color for emphasis. The animals' expressions are hilarious and the action is hyperkinetic. The image of the frog, goat, chicken, swan, and rabbit precariously piled onto a speeding trike are both harmonious and sidesplitting. There are hordes of cumulative stories around, and this type of narrative strengthens memory, offers opportunities for prediction, and is entertaining to boot. The Ring Went Zing! should bounce its way to the upper tiers of the genre. Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.