Off We Go!
A bouncy rhyme for the littlest book lovers, with onomatopoeic words, that take a little mouse, duck, frog, mole, snake, spider, and duck off to their grandmothers’ houses. I began this book when my first granddaughter Maddison Jane Piatt, was born. The book was published slightly before her fifth birthday. “Glacial” does not begin to describe the pace of publishing. Laurel Molk–the illustrator of “Beneath the Ghost Moon”–has done her best work ever here with subtle colors and engaging characters. Maddison had the book memorized after the very first reading and proceeded to recite it for everyone. OFF WE GO is one of the New York Public Library’s One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing (2000). It is also on the ABA Pick of the Lists listing. And it is on the 2000 Capitol Choices – Noteworthy Books for Children list for Up to Seven.
What reviewers have said:
- “A swamp full of baby fauna make appropriate noises as they extol the virtues of visiting grandmother’s house … Molk’s watercolors have a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed expressive attitude with a delicacy of line and shading that gives them robust grace.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
- “… illustrations are playful, graceful and gentle … pick this up, lickety-split.” –Kirkus
- “The text is pert and full of bounce, but it is the watercolor artwork that carries the day. The backgrounds are gauzy yet the rendering of the creatures is precise; creatures retain their essential animality but still have a certain knowing sparkle in their eyes. The combination of rhythmic text, motion-filled art, and, of course, the sentiment makes this a winning choice for story hours.” — Booklist
- “Yolen’s rhyming picture book chirps a chipper spring song about young animals off to a visit with grandma … Featuring soft and cheery yellows and greens, Molk’s sunny watercolors capture both the exuberance of the young woodland animals and the sprouting, hatching newness of the season. The book’s horizontally expansive trim size helps convey the wealthy of marshy textures and a sense of the fun journey as the creatures’ anticipation increases.” — Publishers Weekly
- “A fine introduction to reading and to the skills of listening for sounds, rhyme, and repetition …” — School Library Journal
- “What grandma could resist a sweetly illustrated tale of baby critters making their way to Grandma’s house?” — Detroit Free Press
- “A gifted versifier with an ear for felicitous phrases, Jane Yolen provides a fast-paced, lively journey as a variety of creatures–mouse, frog, duck, snake, mole, spider–make their individual ways to “Grandma’s house. . . . .the language is felicitous, Molk’s illustrations full of vitality, and the verse journey is worth the making.”-Parents Choice
LB hardcover is available.
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