Evaluation

The illustrations in this picture book were absolutely wonderful. The animals that played in the band were fashioning very colorful bow ties, trousers and jackets and the other animals were also wearing very detailed outfits. Not only were there vibrant colors, but there was so much movement within the illustrations that traveled across the page to the beat of the dance being performed. The cats were kicking their legs up as they tapped together, the crickets were holding hands and doing splits during their jitterbug and the flamingos were whirling around the page as they performed their tango. The illustrator did an excellent job of painting thin lines around the characters to create the feeling of active dancing and gliding. 

It was also intriguing to look at the way the author decided to place the text on the page. During the ballet dance, the text curves up and then curves back down. During the jitterbug, the letters move up and down as if they are jiggling with the crickets as they dance. My favorite arrangement of the text occurred when the seven sheep were dancing the cancan. The phrase “way up high” is actually stretched from the top to the bottom of the page as if it “way up high.” I also thought it clever that the author continued to count across the page as she introduced the letters. In many of the number books I have read, the author introduces the number 1-10 separately. In this book, however, she introduced the number two but also counts (1, 2) on the page. This way the reader never forgets the numbers that have come before the newly introduced number. This is a clever scaffolding technique that could be useful when we attempt to make our own number books within the classroom.  This book would be an excellent book for preschool students and kindergarten students as they begin to learn their numbers. The teacher may decide to create a felt board with the animals from the book during the read aloud. The teacher could also create a classroom poem or chant where the students have different hand movements/body movements for every new dance that appears within the pages of this book.