Hop Jump

Vivid full-color illustrations capture the excitement and fascination of the frogs as they watch Betsy the frog discover the art of dancing, an art that the frogs do not understand but one about which they become more and more curious.

PreSchool-Grade 2-"'It's always the same,'" complains Betsy, a green-speckled blue frog. She is tired of watching the others of her ilk engaging in their monotonous, "Hop jump, hop jump." Instead, she imitates leaves-leaping, turning, and twisting-as they float to the ground. "'It's called dancing,'" she says. The frogs at first reject the idea, and then all but one join her. Betsy declares, "'There's room for dancing and for hopping.'" This gentle lesson in diversity and tolerance is presented in direct, graceful prose. Although there are just a few words per page, the text flows smoothly and is perfectly coordinated with the cut-paper collage illustrations. The ever-changing positions and relationships of the frogs, speckled with yellow, green, and blue, hold readers' interest. The large, clearly seen figures and flowing language will make this book a popular and useful story time choice.
Nancy Seiner, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Walsh ( Mouse Paint ) is at her sprightly best with this tale of Betsy, who's bored by hopping and jumping like all the other frogs. Looking for another way to express herself, Betsy tries imitating falling leaves and soon discovers dancing. The others ostracize her ("No room for dancing," they tell her), but Betsy, refusing to be squelched, goes off on her own. Soon the others grow curious and come to watch, and in the end, of course, can't resist the urge to join in. All except one, that is. "Hey, no room for hopping," the other frogs tell the new rebel, but once again Betsy steps in and puts a stop to their discrimination. The text is both musical and minimal, leaving great clean expanses of white space for Walsh to punctuate with a flurry of fetching, fleet-footed frogs fashioned from paint-speckled cut paper. Wide-eyed and wiggling, rendered in a fresh, focused palette and invitingly designed, these hip hopsters are a joy to behold. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Another outstandingly handsome book from the creator of Mouse Count (1991, ALA Notable). Betsy, a blue frog, only watches while the other frogs hop and jump, ``always the same''; she's more interested in the gyrations of a floating leaf, which inspire her to devise new movements, uniquely hers, that she calls ``dancing.'' When the other frogs declare there's ``No room for dancing,'' she's undeterred. But once she's found her own place ``for dancing only,'' the others are curious and join in- -except for one holdout hopper. ``No room for hopping,'' declare the converts, but Betsy is wiser: ``Yes, there's room...For dancing and for hopping.'' This amiable fable, briefer than the words it takes to describe it, is set in a large, square book with plenty of room for the cut-out frogs--in artfully spattered shades of green, except for the blue Betsy--to leap and twirl against a crisp white ground. A beautifully designed book that, like Walsh's earlier efforts, yields new subtleties and visual delights with each reading. (Picture book. 3-8) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 3-6. Betsy the dancer watches the other frogs go back and forth, back and forth, "Hop jump, hop jump. It's always the same." At first an outcast for her leaps and turns, she eventually inspires the others to try their own moves. When the other frogs then thoughtlessly turn on the last happy hopper, spurning his hopping and jumping, Betsy comes to the rescue, stating categorically that there's room for both dancing and hopping. Preschoolers will understand the message, but they'll find the illustrations the most captivating part of the book. Using collages of textured and speckled paper against a spare, white background, Walsh creates a series of dynamic double-page spreads that will have kids hopping, jumping, and dancing. Few illustrators working in collage have Walsh's sensitivity to line, which energizes every well-composed picture in this simple, satisfying book. Carolyn Phelan