Dumpy La Rue - Hardcover

Winthrop, Elizabeth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805063854 ISBN 13: 9780805063851

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2001

Synopsis

Everyone told Dumpy La Rue that pigs don't dance. But Dumpy knew better. He closed his eyes and twirled to the tune inside his head. The whole barnyard gathered around, and soon hooves were stomping, wings were flapping, and feet were stamping out a beat.

Elizabeth Winthrop's romping, rhyming story and Betsy Lewin's exuberant illustrations will have readers tapping their toes, jumping for joy, and dancing a jig with this passionate pig.

About this title

About the Author

Elizabeth Winthrop has written more than forty books for readers of all ages. These books include Promises, also illustrated by Betsy Lewin; Shoes, illustrated by William Joyce; and the award-winning novel, The Castle in the Attic. Ms. Winthrop lives in New York City. She wishes she could dance as well as Dumpy.

Betsy Lewin is the Caldecott Honor Award-winning illustrator of Click, Clack, Moo! Cows That Type, by Doreen Cronin and A Houseful of Christmas, by Barbara Joosse. She has illustrated more than thirty books for children, many of which she also wrote. Ms. Lewin lives with her husband, artist Ted Lewin, in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

K-Gr 2-What fun! Dumpy La Rue is a pig who has lots of rhythm and just wants to dance, much to his family's distress. His parents are reproving and his sister says, "Boys don't dance./They fight, they march,/they sport, and they snort./And they're never ever/supposed to cavort." With wonderfully expressive watercolor illustrations and quick rhyming text, Dumpy not only shares his love of movement with the entire farmyard, but he also has them all kicking up their hooves in the end. "Folks would come from high and low/to see this most amazing show./The Barnyard Ballet/of Dumpy La Rue/The Pig Who Knew/What He Wanted To Do." The musical quality of the text makes it a perfect read-aloud even if all of the vocabulary words (glissade, jet‚d, pas de bourr‚e) aren't immediately familiar. Through Dumpy's warmth and enthusiasm, children will meet a youngster who marches to the beat of his own drummer, and who encourages others to do so as well.-Genevieve Ceraldi, New York Public Library

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

The creators of Promises offer a spry story starring a piglet determined to dance. Though his parents insist that "Pigs don't dance./ They grunt, they grovel,/ they snuffle for truffles," Dumpy La Rue "knew what he wanted to do," and kicks up his hooves in front of an audience of barnyard animals. When the sheep announce that they, too, want to dance, Dumpy offers some advice to his pals: "If you want to dance,/ if you want to glide,/ just close your eyes/ and listen inside." Caldecott Honor artist Lewin (Click, Clack, Moo) portrays the closed-eyed assemblage of critters including Dumpy's family spinning, twirling and gliding along with the prancing porker. Her animated pictures, created with black brush lines and watercolor wash, comically capture the animals' initial skepticism and eventual ebullience as they discover the thrill of dancing to their own internal beats. Though the verse intermittently falters in its rhythm and rhyme, the kid-tickling energy and silliness remain constant (e.g., "The goats did a two-step./ The fox did a three./ The mule danced the salsa/ with a neighboring tree"). And amidst the merriment, readers just may pick up on the importance of bucking stereotypes and listening to one's own drummer or whatever it is that is playing "inside." Ages 4-9.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4-6. Winthrop's high-spirited text stands up well to Lewin's strong artwork, which will remind children of the pictures in her recent Caldecott Honor Book, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type [BKL Ap 1 00], by Doreen Cronin. But the barnyard setting is the only thing the books have in common. Piggy Dumpy La Rue wants to dance, but his father reminds him that pigs are born for other things--like rolling in mud, snorting, and, of course, eating. Dumpy's sister is even more blunt: "Fat chance . . .Boys don't dance." But Dumpy takes no notice of detractors, and before long he has the whole barnyard crew--even portly Pops--happily hoofin'. The message will be pretty obvious (even very young children will get it), and Winthrop forces the rhyme at times (fence/ dance). There's still plenty of bounce here, though, in the lively text and the exuberant line-and-watercolor pictures, some of which fairly leap off the pages just like the dancing critters they show. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805063854
• ISBN 13: 9780805063851
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Lewin Betsy
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40