Hop Jump [Paperback]

Ellen Stoll Walsh (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Tired of hopping and jumping, Betsy the frog sees the leaves float down from the trees and is inspired to leap and twirl--she calls it dancing. At first the other frogs tell her there is no room for dancing. But she eventually teaches everyone that there is room for hopping, jumping, and dancing. “A beautifully designed book that, like Walsh’s earlier efforts, yields new subtleties and visual delights with each reading.”--Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A frog teaches her cohorts to dance; "Wide-eyed and wiggling, rendered in a fresh, focused palette and invitingly designed, these hip hopsters are a joy to behold," said PW in a starred review. Also available in a Spanish-language edition, Salta y brinca ($6, -201356-3). Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper (September 20, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015201375X
• ISBN-13: 978-0152013752
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 10.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #465,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ELLEN STOLL WALSH is the author and illustrator of many award-winning early concept books for young children, including Mouse Paint, Mouse Count, and the Dot and Jabber trilogy. She lives near Rochester, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and very creative!, September 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hop Jump (Library Binding)

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!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hop, Jump, Slump, July 27, 2011

By 

Amy Steele "quirky mama" (Western NC, Land of the Mullets With Tails) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hop Jump (Paperback)

O.K., I will concede that my first rugrat loved this book. and my second rat loves it presently. But, (and you probably guessed that a "but" was comin') something always bothered me about this book. It's a combination of things- it copies Leo Lionni's style a little too much for me, colors are bland, the paper collage setup doesn't grab ya, and the storyline is just a little confusing when you really get down and analyze it...Betsy is tired of the same hopfest in general. Betsy gets slightly miffed when the frogs hop into her beginning dance scene, so they counterattack by stating that there is no room for dancin', then Betsy leaves to find an area "for dancing only". Her fellow amphibians then come to check out her moves, then they begin to dance. One dude just wants to hop as opposed to dancing, and the newest dance club members tell him to scram, until Betsy affirms that there is room for both getting footloose and hopping. I know that the text is supposed to send a message of freedom of expression both spiritually and physically, but it feels like Betsy is the original antagonist; that she has a problem with the frogs love of boring, old hopping. It just seems that she is projecting her boredom onto her homies, and then looks down upon them because they have no pizzazz. In other words: how free is Betsy, anyway, until she saves the day at the end of the book? (You could say that Betsy learns a lesson as well, but I just don't get the vibe from Walsh that Betsy needs it.) A positive- text is great in both size, length, and readability for young ones learning to read or just listening. Yeah, yeah, I know I am a downer...but I love to express myself freely! Gotta go- I have a dancing lesson...I just love punk pits!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simplicity and Great Moral, December 30, 2008

By 

Zenlily (Tacoma, WA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hop Jump (Paperback)

My toddler son really enjoys this book. The illustrations are simple (in a good way) and the moral about finding one's individuality as well as accepting other's sense of self sets this book above some of the drivel out there.