Review by Booklist Review
Like the author's Bea at Ballet (2012), this alliteratively titled picture book is a gentle introduction to a preschool activity. This one features Jake, a little boy with a cute bowl-cut hairdo, who kicks off the story by greeting his classmates and his teacher, Dave. In the all-around welcoming environment Isadora presents, children are happy and well cared for and are eased into a gym routine with stretches and creative play (Let's be frogs and hop today). The kids are adorably round and smiley, ready to crawl through the tunnel, walk on the balance beam, and hang on to the parallel bar. They encourage each other, which may not be completely accurate in terms of toddler behavior but certainly isn't a bad model to represent. Isadora's appealing illustrations feature a multicultural group dressed brightly against a minimalist background. When the kids pretend to be birds (We spread our wings and fly out the door), the class and the book end as cheerily as they began.--Nolan, Abby Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this companion to Bea at Ballet, an equally angelic and ethnically diverse group of preschoolers attend gymnastics class. Their teacher, Dave, sets a playful tone ("Let's be frogs and hop today"), and the boys and girls leap to the task, registering their enthusiasm in boldly colored speech balloons ("Ribbit"). Isadora's spare pencil-and-ink pictures pop from the white backdrop thanks to the kids' brightly colored clothing, created with collaged bits of oil painting. Isadora takes full advantage of the sport's high energy as the young athletes crawl, swing, bounce, tumble, and jump. An early spread shows the children demonstrating various stretching exercises (side split, back bend, etc.), after which they try out different activities, including hanging from a parallel bar and bouncing on a trampoline. The story realistically spotlights achievements as well as slip-ups: a girl successfully balances on the low beam ("I'm doing it!"), while a boy topples during a somersault ("Oops!"). But it's the kids' sense of accomplishment and glee that readers will take away from Isadora's slice-of-life story. Ages 3-5. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
As she did with Bea at Ballet (rev. 7/12), Isadora shows a group of roly-poly toddlers enjoying a beginning class, this time in gymnastics, with an Asian American boy as the focus. Teachers Dave and Toshi lead five girls and four boys through activities such as stretching, tumbling, walking on a low balance beam, and hanging on a parallel bar for as long as they can. The text is minimal ("We all take turns doing somersaults"), but the real joy comes through Isadora's sprightly illustrations that combine pencil and ink line drawings with swathes of oil paint to delineate clothing and some of the equipment. Few other picture book artists have as good an understanding of the toddler's center of gravity as Isadora, and when she uses her expertise to show them hopping, tumbling, balancing, and pretending to fly like birds, you can't help but enjoy the show. Best of all is the page of young gymnasts on the bouncing balls. Each one appears to be enjoying his or her own moment of zen -- a bit of private happiness in the midst of a busy class. kathleen t. horning (c) Copyright 2014. 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.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Jake and his friends love to stretch, hop like frogs, crawl, jump and tumble in their gymnastics class.In a creative segue from her books about ballet, veteran author and illustrator Isadora creates another collection of charming vignettes of a delightfully diverse group of preschoolers enjoying a similarly healthy activity. These kids are clearly having a lot of fun, and their teachers support them and help them to feel safe, especially when teetering precariously on the balance beam. The teachers also encourage creative and fun activities, such as hopping like a frog (the children croak and giggle), jumping on the trampoline, bouncing on big balls, turning somersaults, and finally spreading their wings and flying out of the gym like birds. The chubby kids' refreshingly natural postures and body language set this book apart from renderings of more conventionally pretty children, allowing young gymnasts of all ability levels to identify. Isadora's skillful faux nave pencil-and-ink drawings are enhanced with interesting textures in a rainbow of oil colors. Beginning readers will be attracted to the simple text, especially to the single-word exclamations in brightly colored speech bubbles.Readers will no doubt want to get down on the floor and do some gymnastics of their own. (Picture book. 2-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
