Commentaire descriptif

On a bright summer’s day, a little girl and her mom go for a walk in their urban neighbourhood, where she discovers there is rhythm all around them. Using every one of her senses, she thinks up a beat: hears it in a young man’s drumming, sees the pulse in a butterfly’s flutter, even smells it in the ice cream being dished up in the park. Once she has it, she breaks out into exuberant song and dance. Before long, others in the neighbourhood are clapping and snapping, tipping and tapping away. Realistic oil paintings in sumptuous colours show the sassy girl heroine with afro puff pigtails and bubble gum pink dress with sneakers to match. Her face is full of joy as the world around her comes to life in bursts of sound and movement. Full-page illustrations are contagiously delightful – you can almost hear the stomp, shout and trill of music in the images. Text is simple, with one line per double-page spread. Onomatopoeic words and rhythmic language use sound to effectively build the story: “I looked at the rhythm with my eyes. BLINK BLINK.” The sound words are highlighted in vibrant coloured fonts. A raucously fun read-aloud. Before it is through, young listeners will no doubt want to join in: “I got the rhythm, and you can too.”