Lewin, Betsy. Where Is Tippy Toes? New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010.
ISBN: 1416938087
Summary: Where is Tippy Toes? is about the adventures of a cat and the places he hides throughout the day, however, no one seems to know where he sneaks off to at night. Travel through a day in the life of the mischievous Tippy, exploring all that he does and just maybe you will find out where it is he hides out during the night.
Analysis: What a fun little read! Enter into a day in the life of a curious, daring, stealthy cat with a playful personality. This is the cutest little story with beautiful illustrations that are big and bold. The die-cut pages really pop, grabbing your attention. The changing vibrant colors, making this storybook visually appealing, show progression throughout the day. Lewin's use of bold and bright colors truly create the mood from the beginning to the end of Tippy's day. The cutouts on some of the pages give the reader the feeling of being sneaky, hiding right along with Tippy Toes. My favorite page was where his tail is camouflaged with the cattails and, of course, the pulling back the blanket part...
Lewin's play with words gives a fluid flow with rhythm and rhyme. The alliterations and repeated phrases project a nice cadence. My 8th graders said they "loved how each page led to the next" and they thought it was "a good way to make a small child feel comfort before bedtime." When I had finished the last page and closed the book, one student stated, "It made me happy." I think anyone and everyone will leave feeling cheerful after experiencing this story and its painterly colored pages. Great for the little ones!
Accolades/Scholarly Reviews: The Bulletin of the Center for Children Books - Recommended Titles 1996; September 2010 and Horn Book Guide Reviews 2011 Spring.
From School Library Journal 09/01/2010: "Oversize watercolors outlined in a thick black line add humor to the text and the bright hues seen in the flowers, sun, and cat's fur enhance the changing backgrounds. Rhyming sentences come together with the turn of a page and continue to the satisfying page turn at the end. This cat's sun up to sun down routine makes an excellent choice for a new bedtime story."
From Publisher's Weekly 07/05/2010 "Tippy Toes is an orange cat with expressive lime-green eyes and a penchant for exploration. Gentle rhymes speculate on Tippy's self-assured movements."
Connections: Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illustrator) and Tuck Me In! by Dean Hacohen, Sherry Scharschmidt (Illustrator) and I Spy With My Little Eye by Edward Gibbs would be great companion books. Students can compare the illustrations and the hidden elements within them.
No comments:
Post a Comment