Review by Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr-1-Clever additional verses make this classic song splendidly unique. With soft watercolors, Trapani depicts a cuddly bear family and pet pup on a boat excursion. They start off leisurely in bright sunshine but soon encounter fallen oars, rapids, and a beaver dam. Stopping for a picnic lunch, they enjoy their meal with all of the forest animals who are "Chomping, snacking, slurping, smacking/What a noisy bunch!" Returning to the boat, they run into bad weather and hurry back to shore. "Raining, hailing, wind is wailing/Hear the thunder roar!" Children will enjoy the rhyming, alliterative language energized by strings of gerunds. Every original verse perfectly matches the traditional melody, and each picture illustrates the action with warmth, excitement, and humor. The music with all of the verses is printed on the last page. Trapani has transformed a simple little song into a delightful adventure.-Jackie Hechtkopf, University of Maryland, College Park (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
...find a place that's dry / Scurry, scuttle, hide and huddle / Till the storm blows by. A family of life-jacketed bears on a river odyssey encounter rapids, beaver dams, a storm, and mooching lunch guests in these illustrated additional verses to the song. The new rhymes flow smoothly, and the watercolor illustrations develop and extend plot elements from page to page. Melody, guitar chords, and all nine verses appear on the last page. From HORN BOOK Spring 2000, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.