Friday, August 7, 2009

How Do You Wokka Wokka Elizabeth Bluemle Randy Cecil

How Do You Wokka Wokka by Elizabeth Bluemle illus. by Randy Cecil I don't talk about picture books too much, only the ones that grab me at first glance. How do you Wokka Wokka is one of those, I love it. To Wokka is to dance. Set in a city. A boy wakes up looks out his window and decides its a good day to wokka wokka

"Some days you wake up and you just gotta wokka Say hey to your neighbors, up and down blocka Wamma-lammy-wotcha-ho - do your funky wokka get your dance on"

The boy goes to the street and proceeds to ask the other kids how they wokka wokka. There is no one way to wokka. The first girl Wokka's like a flamingo. One kid goes old school with a very sweet break dance move. Another girl breaks out the snake. She calls it the fish flop but I know the snake when I see it.

Soon all the kids are following the boy who had to wokka to a block party. Everyone in the neighborhood wokka's in their own special way. Everyone looks so happy. Bluemle and Cecil easliy give us a wonderfully diverse group of people. The text and illustrations are a perfect fit.

Cecil's illustrations are beautiful. Oil is the medium of choice. I loved the solid rich colors and the color contrast of the apartments. See for yourself

The text is sparse and rhythmic. Its going to be close to impossible to read or listen to this story without moving some part of your body. Making this a perfect read aloud. Ages 3up

3 comments:

Tarie Sabido said...

Ooohhh. This sounds good. I'll have to keep an eye out for it. Thanks, Doret!

Doret said...

Its a fun picture book

evelyn.n.alfred said...

"I know the snake when I see it.". Very funny.