Dance party countdown

PreS-Gr 2-In this second installment in the series, Groovy Joe, with guitar in paw and a tambourine on his tail, is preparing to rock when-"knock! knock!" In come more and more of his doggy friends with their own instruments, eager to join in. But with all these party crashers, "does Joe get upset? Goodness no!" Kindhearted Joe is happy to fill the room to bursting with his friends. Finally, with eight dogs crowded in, Joe insists that "there's room for one more," and this particular party guest actually has an invitation. It's you, the reader! This title doesn't skimp on the trademarks of classic Litwin prose-spare text, heavy on rhyme and repetition, with predictable patterns that younger children especially will find appealing. But for this new adventure, Litwin has added an explicitly mathematical element to the usual goofy fun. The author asks readers to add up all the canines arriving for Joe's fabulous disco party. The endpapers feature Lichtenheld's signature heavy pencil and show Joe and friends grooving among a variety of mathematical equations, and as each new dog arrives, Lichtenheld highlights the addition on a chalkboard backdrop. The accompanying downloadable song ("Disco Party BOW WOW!") is also structured around counting-taking its listeners through an ascending count of three doggy guests who are "in the room" and "howling at the moon." VERDICT A reliable crowd-pleaser, this book will easily slot into a storytime rotation with sure success.-Ann Santori, Cook Memorial Public Library, Libertyville, IL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Groovy Joe the hip hound dog is back for a sequel, following up on his first musical adventure, Ice Cream and Dinosaurs (2016).This time Joe and his squirrel sidekick are hosting a disco dance party, with more and more dogs knocking at their door and joining the jam session with their own instruments. The canine entrances seem to be set up as knock-knock jokes, but there are no subsequent punch lines (or the anticipated humor of a funny answer). Each additional grouping of dogs is summarized as a number sentence that is reinforced in the text, with large, hand-lettered type repeating "Disco Party Bow-Wow!" as a refrain. The conclusion offers an invitation to readers to join the party, as there's always room for more guests. Bold illustrations show the canines cavorting at the party, playing various instruments, and the groups of animals can be counted to match the number sentences that serve as the obvious teaching point of the story (there is no actual plot). The dogs all appear to be male, except (probably) for a pink poodle with a green bow who plays the violin. A musical version of the story can be downloaded at the publisher's website, and the story might be fun when sung and acted out. Sticklers may object to ungrammatical constructions in the text that reflect the casual nature of the writing style: "Two dogs in the room means less space for Joe"; "Joe invited who?" Trying hard does not equal funny (or groovy). (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.