Hop Jump

I love Ellen Stolle Walsh books! This one has clever cut-out illustrations and a nice message about trying different things and group acceptance. Children love the large print and the fun repetitions.

Fun and humorous! Betsy the independing-thinking frog wants to try something different. Shows a female character with leadership skills: getting all the other frogs to try dancing. Very minimal text per page, and fairly short overall so easy to hold a toddler's attention. Beautiful Leo Leonni-style artwork. Age 1.5+

"Hop Jump" is the story of a frog who wants to dance, not just hop. At first the other frogs wont give her space to move the way she wants, so she goes off by herself. Soon the others get curious about what she's doing, and by the end everyone is jumping and dancing with room for all. This is a great story about being yourself even when others don't accept you. The Spanish translation is great - in fact I like it much better than the English. The phrasing has a more rhythmic quality to it.

This is an excellent choice for kindergarten teachers that are looking for a book that is simple in its vocabulary and number of words per page, yet rich with meaning and personal connections for children.

What a great book for children! Not only is it a well written story with a message that all children can relate to, the pictures are enchanting! --A great extension activity for this book, if you teach, is to have the children use wallpaper samples or wrapping paper to write and illustrate their own version of this story. You may even want to encourage them to turn the story into a play and act it out! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!