Uncle Ian Aurora

Do you have lots of little wigglers in your storytimes? This is the perfect book to get them up and moving!

The actions are led by a brown-skinned girl with long brown hair. She's joined by kids in an array of colors from a black girl to a blond boy, as well as her little brown dog. Adults join in as well as they stomp, wiggle, and dance from beach to forest, from spring to winter.

Brisk rhymes encourage children to perform a choreography of stomping, starting with "Everybody up! It's time to get moving! Now repeat after me.../Stomp 1, 2./Stomp 1, 2, 3." Kids will stomp fast and slow, wiggle their fingers, jiggle their heads, and stomp out a happy dance. The one drawback is that no kids with mobility handicaps are pictured, but there are actions that can be done with hands and fingers. Or the story could be adapted to clap instead of stomp, depending on your audience.

Splashy, colorful pictures show the group of children stomping and dancing in the desert, "Stomp like you're sitting on a horse you like to ride." There are also images of an art room at school, where the (black) teacher joins in the pre-creation stomp and some wiggling on the couch with an older man.

Verdict: An excellent addition to interactive picture books and storytimes.

ISBN: 9781486715541; Published October 2019 by Flowerpot Press; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the professional storytime collection… (más)