SCHOOLYARD RHYMES: KIDS OWN RHYMES FOR ROPE JUMPING, HAND CLAPPING, BALL BOUNCING, AND JUST PLAIN FUN.

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Selected by Judy Sierra. 2005. SCHOOLYARD RHYMES: KIDS OWN RHYMES FOR ROPE JUMPING, HAND CLAPPING, BALL BOUNCING, AND JUST PLAIN FUN. Ill by Melissa Sweet. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-375-92516-3

2. PLOT SUMMARY
This book is filled with more than 50 rhymes from my childhood. I thought we invented them as children. Imagine my dismay when I read a book filled with my beloved poems. Most of them I remembered reciting as a young girl. Some of the verses are different than the ones I chanted, showing how these variations change from area to area. These chants are perfect for jump roping and hand clapping, as I experienced them eons ago. Some of them are a bit naughty, making them even more beloved to children. Of COURSE “Men go to Jupiter to get more stupider,” and the classic:

I’m rubber, and you’re glue.
Everything you say about me
Bounces off me and sticks to you...

will be recited by children as long as authors like Judy Sierra put them in print and pass them down. Children love to insult each other with rhymes; and this is the perfect book to teach them about rhythm and rhyme while they have permission. Sierra is right; this book is meant to be read out loud.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The rhythm of the poems is catchy and just plain fun. Sierra includes an introduction to her book that explains that some of the poems in her book have been around for 150 years. Poems an adult reader hasn’t thought of in years come back to memory as if they were recited yesterday. The reader will probably learn new verses he or she didn’t know existed. The placement of the print on the pages is as fun as the rhymes themselves.

Melissa Sweet does an amazing job on her illustrations. Who wouldn’t have fun illustrating,

Did you ever, ever, ever in your bow-legged life
Meet a bow-legged sailor and his bow-legged wife?

Sweet has fun with her illustrations when she rewrites them in the shape of jump ropes, clotheslines, tree trunks, frame borders, apple sticks, and flower stems trailing through the pages. Readers turn the pages up and over to read her text as it loops around. Her characters are childlike and she uses bright colors for the clothing, background, borders and the characters themselves. This book is just delightful and so much fun for adults to read with the younger generation.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Publishers Weekly - Schoolyard Rhymes: Kids' Own Rhymes for Rope Skipping, Hand Clapping, Ball Bouncing, and Just Plain Fun by Judy Sierra contains 50 rhymes perfect for recess or after-school play, such as the familiar "Miss Mary Mack."

School Library Journal - Sierra has selected some of the funniest and most memorable schoolyard rhymes available in this appealing collection…Kids will also howl over other offerings that may be new to this generation: The rhythms and nonsense rhymes are irresistible, compelling memorization and participation in the fun. Tried-and- true wordplays will tickle young readers…Sweet's animated watercolor-and-collage illustrations fill the pages with expressive faces, thin lines of verse shaped into jump ropes and borders, and hilarious interpretive scenes from the rhymes. This is a definite winner, as it will be enormously popular with children.

School library Journal Starred Review - Sierra’s text has a wacky verve and enough lever asides and allusions to familiar characters to satisfy bibliophiles of all ages…Browns cheerful, full-color illustrations…are rich in pattern, texture, and nuance –

bibliophiles = collector of books

Booklist Review - Sierra has selected 50 traditional playground chants and rhymes for inclusion in this illustrated collection…Sweet's comical, mixed-media art adds to the wackiness of the rhymes, with jump ropes commanding a prominent position, whether used by children or pickles or bears. Text is frequently incorporated into the pictures; verses are printed on ropes and on the stripes of flags.

Horn Book Review - This picture book rejoices in the rhymes of childhood -- not the adult-approved Mother Goose nursery rhymes but the sometimes spiteful, always zesty rhymes chanted by children themselves. Many of the verses have a strong beat because of their use as jump-rope rhymes or clapping games… (The rhymes) mingle together, loosely grouped on the pages by topics such as bubble gum or underwear. Those who know childhood humor will not be shocked that many of the poems do feature underwear and insults. Melissa Sweet goes for a comic style with her watercolor and pencil art, which suits the rhymes well...Kids will enjoy this celebration of naughtiness and childhood fun.

Kirkus Review - Drawing on her Ph.D. in folklore, Sierra has compiled an upbeat selection of dozens of schoolyard rhymes and funny poems, complemented by Sweet's charming illustrations in watercolor and fabric collage. The collection includes many old clapping games and jump rope rhymes that have been around for generations, as well as familiar short chants and funny verses. The illustrations bring a fresh focus to the collection with a sophisticated design …There are many available collections of children's traditional rhymes, but this one uses bright colors, great illustrations and pleasing design elements to reach out to contemporary children.
Booklist, Starred Review - Sierra’s handy way with a rhyming text… (is) full of images that will amuse children…There are tons of things to look at, all in sunny colors.

5. CONNECTIONS
This book screams to make connections. Children can and will build fluency by reading these poems over and over again. A teacher should take the students out to the playground and jump rope, clap hands, and bounce balls to the rhythm of these poems. Schoolyard Rhymes begs children to write their own verses to the poems in the book.
To add to this collection a teacher might also search for:
ANNA BANANA: 101 JUMP ROPE RHYMES, by Joanna Cole ISBN 10-06897114/13:978-0688971145
MISS MARY MACK: AND OTHER CHILDREN’S STREET RHYMES, by Joanna Cole and Stephanie Calmenson, ISBN 13-978-0874831566
DOUBLE DUTCH; A CALEBRATION OF JUMP ROPE, RHYME, AND SISTRHOOD, by Veronica Chambers. Hyperion Books for Children. October 2002. ISBN 0-786-80512-9
Article – Jump Rope Rhymes…in the Classroom? Journal Article by Rita Buchoff; Childhood Education, Vol. 71, 1995