Review by Booklist Review
The city bustles to a musical beat, as two (unchaperoned!) young friends discover over a daylong ramble. Rhyming with sound effects Leap across a rusty grate. / Feel the warm air rush. / Stomp the bars and make them shake / Wiggle, giggle, HUSH! Viau takes her prancing visitors past street musicians and jump-ropers, a horse-drawn carriage and a garbage truck, and, punctuated by rides on bus and train, a park and various urban neighborhoods. Tucking in plenty of amusing side business and small details, Bakos captures a vibrant energy with flat, busy, brightly colored cartoon scenes of small shops and low-rise buildings that seem to shake and undulate, along with the many high-stepping buskers and strutting pedestrians, workers, merchants, mice (there are a lot of mice), and other small animals dancing in the streets. At day's end, the two friends meet the respective parents who dropped them off that morning and wave good-bye as one stays behind and the other is driven off along a country road past sleepy sheep (and, a topical touch, a wind farm). Like Robert Burleigh's Zoom! Zoom! Sounds of Things That Go in the City (2014) and its many antecedents, this evocation of the urban soundscape makes a good choice for a noisy, active storytime.--Peters, John Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Viau (Look What I Can Do!) adds to a crowded category of picture books celebrating urban life in this rhyming ode to the sights and sounds of the city. A girl and her mother drive into the city, where they meet up with a young friend and her father. The parents mostly stay in the background as the children jump rope, ride the subway and a bus, and dance to a street band. Viau's verse zips along with a strong emphasis on sound effects ("Hear the shutters climb the wall./ Rat-a-tatter. Bang!"), though the recurring refrain strains in its effort to come across as fresh and hip ("Rock-n-roll the razz-ma-tazz/ And hip-hop to the beat"). Bakos's busy illustrations, painted in a vivid palette, offer a cheerful, multicultural cast and abundant city bustle to explore while matching the unceasingly upbeat mood of the verse-the closest the book ever comes to any sort of urban grit is an encounter with a garbage truck. Ages 4-7. Author's agent: Karen Grencik, Red Fox Literary. Illustrator's agency: the Bright Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-For the duration of a day, two peppy little girls enjoy a visit with one another while dancing along bustling streets and listening to rhythms in the city sounds. The girls hear catchy rock and hip-hop beats, from ordinary people walking, musicians playing, the bake-shop bell ringing, a trash truck rumbling, birds eating, and more. With an absence of dialogue and the inclusion of a recurring verse, the book is marked by a descriptive rhyming writing style that progresses at a jaunty pace. Bakos's perky full-color artwork re-creates the movement found within the city. A multicultural cast of adult and juvenile city goers engages in an abundance of activities common to an urban environment. At times, the girls appear to be unsupervised as they take in their adventure, but a few scenes with parents nearby will reassures readers that familiar adults are around. Also among the busy details are whimsical and dainty mice that reappear throughout. There is much to see in this cheerful tale that will stimulate readers' imaginations while showcasing city life. As an extension of the story, encourage children to listen for rhythms in the sounds of their school or home surroundings.-Lynn Vanca, Freelance Librarian, Akron, OH (c) Copyright 2012. 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
Two friends enjoy a busy day in a bustling city--seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching enhance their experience. "Listen to the three-piece band. / Shimmy to the sound." The lively urban environment offers music, dancing, trains, cafes, and more. The playful, onomatopoeia-heavy rhymed text extends the musical sentiment in the story, while bright, energetic illustrations feature small detailed figures. (c) Copyright 2015. 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.
