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(2)
K-3
It's a warm day, and a diverse group of children in a city neighborhood heads to the playground, where "asphalt sizzles in wait, / ropes lie in the corner as bait." One child calls out "Jump in!" and kids line up to show their jumping style. Beginning with the Delancey twins (a.k.a. "the Double Dutch divas") and basketball aficionado Leroy Jones, each child brings their own flair as they answer the call. As the day continues, other members of the community jump in, including elder Ms. Mabel ("the queen of hopscotch since [she] was one"). Then "my turn at last!" The narrator finally "can put these schoolbooks down and play." She hits the playground with her skateboard and shows how she jumps in. When the streetlights come on, it is time for everyone to jump out and go home. Brimming with energy, the colorful textured digital paintings enhance the rhyming text. Strickland captures the sheer joy found in community play.
Reviewer: Eboni Njoku
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
January, 2023
234 pp.
| Random
| April, 2018
|
TradeISBN 978-1-5247-0000-3$16.99
|
LibraryISBN 978-1-5247-0001-0$19.99
|
EbookISBN 978-1-5247-0002-7
(2)
4-6
Thirteen-year-old Brooklynite MaKayla's double-Dutch team qualifies for regionals for the National Jump-off competition. Then she and her brother are sent to North Carolina to stay with relatives while their parents work out their rocky relationship. But instead of a dull summer with her snooty cousin, MaKayla's soon back in the running for the Jump-off in this quirky story of both competition and collaboration.
Reviewer: Eboni Njoku
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
May, 2018
32 pp.
| Chronicle
| March, 2017
|
TradeISBN 978-1-4521-5188-5$16.99
(2)
PS
Illustrated by
Komako Sakai.
A girl and her brother return to a park to retrieve her jump rope and discover a group of foxes trying to use it but failing. The girl kindly offers to help and then lets the foxes keep the rope, fulfilling one fox's wish. In mostly grays, greens, and yellows, the art excels at capturing preschoolers' body language. Smiling, hopping foxes embody the story's gentle light-heartedness.
32 pp.
| Boyds/Wordsong
| April, 2004
|
TradeISBN 1-59078-027-2$$15.95
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Melanie Hall.
Some of these thirty-two original rhymes ask jumpers to try tricks like "crossovers" and "hot peppers." Others end with reciting the alphabet so jumpers can discover the initials of their sweethearts. The rhymes are catchy, and the rhythms are strong. Hall's imaginative illustrations give a sophisticated feel to a very usable book.
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Blanche Sims.
This revised edition of The World's Best Street and Yard Games contains the instructions for just over half of the games in the original, but it has more and stronger illustrations. Sims draws energetic children running off the page as they play games such as "Kick the Can." The instructions are clear and contain diagrams when necessary. While the book does not replace the original, it is a solid addition to homes and libraries.
64 pp.
| Hyperion/Jump
| September, 2002
|
TradeISBN 0-7868-0512-9$$18.99
(4)
4-6
This exuberant treasury of observations and insights about jumping rope and its practitioners ("They are astronauts of the asphalt") makes a strong case that it has long been a means of fostering friendships and self-esteem, particularly among African-American girls. The plentiful uncaptioned photos of jump ropers from different eras and cultures are inspiring, but it's often unclear if the images correspond with the text.
183 pp.
| Atheneum
| June, 2002
|
TradeISBN 0-689-84230-9$$16.00
(4)
4-6
Delia, an eighth grader on a championship level double dutch team, has a terrible secret and so has her friend Randy. Delia is illiterate and about to be unmasked by a mandatory state test. Randy has been all alone for weeks, with no word from his absent father and little money left. This issue-laden novel features an appealing cast of sympathetic characters.
(2)
1-3
Illustrated by
Charlotte Voake.
Elsie is a rope skipper so talented that the fairies take her under their wing and teach her all their secret steps. Included in Farjeon's 1937 collection Martin Pippin in the Daisy Field, this story was published alone a few years ago as part of the Candlewick Treasures series. Now it receives full-blown picture book treatment, with delicately colored drawings that dance off the pages as lightly as Elsie skips.
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
David Diaz.
Flowing out as if it were one long, hypnotic playground rhyme, the text incorporates the chants of Shameka and her friends jumping double dutch with a view of an elderly neighbor woman who comes out to jump with them and flies into the heavens. This fantastical death is refreshingly joyous, as are Diaz's bold, angular illustrations, rendered in vibrant spring colors.
32 pp.
| Houghton
| March, 1999
|
TradeISBN 0-395-87497-1$$15.00
(2)
K-3
Illustrated by
Christine Davenier.
A girl with the "hangin' round," "draggin' down" blues resists her younger sister's suggestions that they play hopscotch or go roller-skating but finally gives in when a clothesline becomes an irresistible jumping rope. Rhythm-and-blues-inspired language and vibrant loose line go from languid to lively in this mood piece of a picture book.
Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
March, 1999
11 reviews
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