Over in the Pink House: New Jump-Rope Rhymes (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Melanie W. Hall (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-5-These 32 original rhymes are infused with fresh, colorful imagery and toe-tapping rhythm. Appropriate for reading or chanting aloud while jumping rope, each one has a lighthearted, whimsical quality. The vibrantly colored illustrations are equally playful. Smaller vignettes alternate with single and double-page paintings, and the style of each picture perfectly captures the tone of the accompanying poem. Tiny sketches of a girl jumping rope appear on the bottom right-hand corners of the pages, giving the semblance of motion when they are flipped. This pleasing book makes a fine supplement to Jane Yolen's Street Rhymes around the World (Wordsong, 2003) and Joanna Cole's Anna Banana: 101 Jump-Rope Rhymes (HarperTrophy, 1989).-Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. Rhyme and thumping rhythm are the attraction in these 32 lively verses, whether kids chant the words as they jump rope or share them with adults in a cozy armchair. As with nursery rhymes, the appeal is the sound rather than the meaning of the words, and the beat of the short lines makes the verses easy to remember. There's even some play with folklore ("Jillian, Jillian / Where will you go? / To Denmark, / To Sweden, / to pick out a beau. / Jillian, Jillian, / What will you wear?"). Hall's clear, colorful illustrations, which use a variety of media--pastel, collage, watercolor--keep the scenarios open, whether realistic or magical. Like Dotlich's In the Spin of Things (2003), this collection makes words a part of play. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Boyds Mills Press (September 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590780272
• ISBN-13: 978-1590780275
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #337,308 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Over In The Pink House, August 21, 2005

A Kid's Review

When I opened this book teddy bears, midnight skies, pink parasuls, glasses of milk, butered toast, granndma's sewing, and bottles of homemade jam swarm out and danced around me. And as I read the pages I could hear the sound of children laughing and taking turns jump-roping as they chanted the magical rymes. Any child of any age will smile as these original, tymeless rymes that only Rebeca Dotlitch's collection will give you are told. Great for bedtime- morning time- anytime.
From "Handsome Harry" to "Pizza Pizza" to "Cookies" This book of witty clever poems complete with touching illistrations will stick with you forever!-Taylor Baldwin

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book... not sure if they'll catch on for jumping rope., October 23, 2009

By	Ulyyf "Connie" (NYC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This book has some really good illustrations, and I especially like the little flip-book corner of a girl jumping rope on the bottom of the right-hand pages.

The rhymes are clever and sweet - none of the awful stuff kids make up on their own (seriously, the girls on my block ask "Where am I gonna get married at? House, church, toilet bowl!" for their favorite jumprope rhyme!) - and they do have that jump-rope rhythm.

But a lot of them are a little long. YOU know how rhymes go. They're short and easy to remember, or they consist of a lot of "floaters", rhymes that appear in nearly every kid's rhyme you can find. These tend to be a bit long, so we'll see what we see.

I'm also a little irritated that, like many rhymes and poems written to *read* to children, a lot of these are forcibly nostalgic. They include candles and candelabras, but no flashlights, for example. What's the point?