How do you wokka-wokka? by Elizabeth Bluemle, illustrated by Randy Cecil
It is mid-October. I am in the depths of reading a ton of Teen Horror for a YA fiction extravaganza event, my kids and husband are off having fun while I'm stuck working, and the weather just turned... well, it's a two-syllable word that rhymes with "witty". As in cold and raw and rainy.
And then, what comes duck-walking into my day, but a scat-filled, funkified, trip-trop-tongued picture book that I cannot WAIT to share with a roomful of kindergartners! It's a mood-changer! It's a crowd-pleaser! It is fun to read and fun to hear and encourages movement.
How do you wokka-wokka?
I wokka-wokka like a mariachi with maracas -
chipi-chipi
chaba-cha-cha
shake-a-the-maracas
In fact, when I took it in to the beloved Kindergarten teacher at my kids' school, she started jiving and posing while she read it to herself, and I could see her wheels turning. You can wokka-wokka like an animal, you can wokka-wokka like a dancer or an athlete, you could bring musical instruments into it, extend it any way you'd like.
WE wokka-wokka like a party on the blocka!
Shacka-racka daddly-acka
cotton-candy
snacka-snacka.
The children in the book come in all shades and shapes, and Randy Cecil's oils manage to be both somewhat minimalist and terrifically expressive at the same time. Browns and grays never looked so warm. A terrific book to jazz up a rainy day!
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