Sidewalk Trip (Growing Tree) - Hardcover

Patricia Hubbell has been writing poetry since she was eleven years old. In 1998, her Wrapping Paper Romp was selected as a Parents Magazine Book of the Year. Patricia Hubbell lives with her husband, Harold Hornstein, in Easton, Connecticut, the small town where she was born. Remembering how much their children and grandchildren loved to bounce when they were very young prompted her to write Bouncing Time. "Bouncing is one of the joyous things little kids do," she says. "It reflects their constant enthusiasm."

PreSchool-Accompanied by her mother, a rotund little girl skips happily down the street spouting verse as she goes. The rhymes usually pertain to the scene they are passing at the moment, but also refer to their eventual goal-the ice cream truck. In a book designed for two-year-olds, the fact that the text does not always match the illustrations but refers to a desired future event may cause confusion. The rhymes themselves are uninspired and scan awkwardly: "Hop. Jump. Lick./Hop. Jump. Lick./I'm dancing down the sidewalk/with my ice cream cone to lick." Even toddlers know that dancing with an ice cream cone spells disaster. The illustrations, done largely in pastel tones with an occasional jarring primary or earth tone, contain several oddities, including a turquoise fire hydrant, a policeman with three-days beard growth, and a dog licking the little girl on the mouth. All of the people appear stiff and awkward, and are at odds with the intended excitement and energy of the situation. For a stroll with more pizzazz, stick with Sue Williams's I Went Walking (Gulliver, 1990).
Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.