Monday, August 10, 2009

The Daddy Longlegs Blues by Mike Ornstein & Lisa Kopelke


The Daddy Longlegs Blues by Mike Ornstein
Illustrated by Lisa Kopelke
Copyright 2009
Ages 4-8
32 pages

This is such a cute book, but I'm not sure how to describe it. I've saved and posted a fairly large cover image so you can get a good look at the gorgeous art and here's an excerpt to give you an idea of the text:

He's Daddy Longlegs, always on the move.

Glidin' over grass to his slow-motion groove.
Not a hurry or a worry, just playin' it cool.
Dancin' cross the water of the swimming pool.

The reader follows Daddy Longlegs as he grooves around town. The artwork is simply stunning and the text is rhythmic and fun. However . . . I can't just read it. I have to sing the book. You can imagine how that thrills my cat -- the victim of my childrens-book-reading test runs. She's really more of a pop lover, although Sarah McLachlan's Christmas album is her personal favorite (I am so not kidding -- if I put in that CD on the way to the vet, she just curls up her paws and grins at me). Sarah's a little groovy, so the cat didn't run away. She just looked a little wide-eyed when I sang the book.

There is no musical score, but the blues are easy to make up as you go. I highly recommend listening to a little blues and singing this book to your kid if you can carry a tune. It's a winner.

5/5 - Fun, rhythmic text that's enjoyable to read aloud or sing aloud; beautiful artwork and the spider doesn't look frighteningly spidery. He looks almost human.

This is part one of Children's Book Day, since I have three children's books to review. I planned to spread them out over the weekend, but that didn't work out. I had to go buy my husband an anniversary gift (he remembered our anniversary; I forgot) and then we had to go back to the Big City a second time to get an overcharge fixed and buy a new set of tires for the Toyota. So, we were hardly home at all, this weekend. I bought books. More on that, later.

Thanks to Sterling Books for the review copy.

6 comments:

  1. Sounds terrific!

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  2. Care,

    If I ever get my guitar restrung, I'll come sit on your boat and sing it to you. :)

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  3. This one sounds so cool! I love children's books!

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  4. Krista,

    I do, too. It's really cute; I'm sure you and T would love it.

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  5. I can't carry a tune but I have a daughter who sings fabulous (she got it from her dad). Another daughter has always put words to song since she was a little girl. I think I'll put this book in her hands to read to the grandkids and see if she doesn't just start singing at some point.

    Sound like a really cute book.

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  6. Booklogged,

    Sounds good to me! I can already visualize you lurking in the doorway, hoping to hear this book put to music! :)

    ReplyDelete

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