Product Description

Sing, clap, and count your way among enchanting rainforest animals to the rhythm of the whimsical favorite, ""Over in the Meadow.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55923 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781584690924
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3–Another variation on the familiar song, this one enumerates some of the unusual fauna of the rain forest. It not only spotlights some of the animals–marmosets, parrots, honey bears, leaf cutter ants, etc.–but also offers pertinent information on the habitat. Berkes describes the different layers of the rainforest and its importance to our global ecology, and suggests movement activities for children to act out the rhyme. The unusual and colorful illustrations are made with polymer clay and then photographed, giving them a three-dimensional look. Each spread has the text and a number on the left against a dark-green leaf background, and shows one animal family with the correct number of babies as well as several other sets of indigenous flora or fauna to count. A long double page shows all the levels of the rain forest in cross section, and children are challenged to count the animals previously encountered and now hanging on the vines and hiding underneath the trees, etc. This is a handsome book on an important subject, and it can serve as recreational reading as well as an introduction to a basic unit on the rain forest.–Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"WOW! What a delightful story!! It's a treat for the eyes and a treat for the ears." -- Dr. Anthony D. Fredericks, Prof. of Education, Author of over 30 children's books

Customer Reviews

Over in my classroom!
What a fun and glorious time my students have had with this book. We own all the "Over in the Meadow" pattern books and I could not resist this one either. My students never tire of these books and this one was no exception. With each reading, there is a new discovery and my students can never decide which rainforest creature is their favorite. Not only is this book fiction, but the information at the back of the book has provided students with some interesting facts and was an asset in our study of the rainforest. The storybook has been inspirational as a model for our own rendition of this old and favorite poem and song.

Jungle fever
When you discover a phenomenal artist who appears solely under the auspices of a single small publisher, it's like finding hidden treasure. I had that very feeling when I found the work of Jeanette Canyon a year ago. She had just finished work on "City Beats" by S. Kelly Rammell when I ran across the book and was entranced by her format. Working entirely in polymer clay, Ms. Canyon imbues her images with so much light, life, and motion that you'd swear her creations were animated stills rather than original sculptural art. Somehow, I had missed Ms. Canyon's previous collaboration with one Ms. Marianne Berkes when they came out with, "Over In the Ocean: In a Coral Reef," (which was the recipient of the Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year, doncha know). As such, "Over In the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme," is very much the same deal. Having adapted that old song "Over In the Meadow" to different locales, Berkes takes a tried and true format and simply fills it to overflowing with a vast array of rainforest creatures. The result could easily have been a hashed do-over without any originality. Instead, the adaptation is smooth and seamless, the facts at the back of the book quickly correcting any misunderstandings. There are also tips on telling this book aloud for storytime, and even a step-by-step process of how Canyon creates her art. What could easily have degraded into a rote form emerges instead as lush and detailed as its tropical subject matter. Color me impressed.

The book opens as the mottled canopy of a rainforest, seen from high above, fills the interior cover. On the first two-page spread, two marmosets are swinging gaily across a soft rising sun. "Over in the jungle / Where the trees greet the sun / Lived a mother marmoset / And her marmoset one. / 'Swing,' said the mother. / 'I swing,' said the one. / So they swung and they hung / Where the trees greet the sun." Colors pop out at the viewer as animals tumble over and above one another in a haze of action and rhyme. We see the wide iridescent blue of the morpho butterflies fluttering above their now discarded chrysalises. We see sweet honey bears sipping nectar and howler monkeys, their mouths all agape, as they hoot and holler up a storm. By the end, the book rounds everything out with a huge double page spread of all the animals featured, hidden amongst the different striations of the rainforest, from the forest floor to the tops of the trees or "emergents." Kids are encouraged to locate and count all the creatures they saw before. "When you find all the creatures then this rhyme is done."

It's the little things that sometimes impress me the most. Sure, I could wax rhapsodic over the sheer range of colors and ethereal images that appear in this book. But you know what I really love about Canyon's work? She cares about details. For example, as the book counts up from one to ten, a single leaf on the left-hand page carries the imprint of each number. And sitting on that leaf is a glistening raindrop. You might not notice, in fact it would be easy to miss it, but the number of raindrops increase with every number. They do so with a great deal of subtlety, though, so you wouldn't necessarily notice the first few reads. But really, that's what I love about the book. Multiple readings yield incredible rewards. I'm definitely not alone in cooing over the marbleized orange/red leaf cutter ants as they chew through an enormous leaf. And look! A second reading shows that somehow or other Canyon found a way to throw shadows from behind her subject matter. How do you outline the shadow of an ant from the underside of a leaf made out of clay? Or convey a sense of motion when a poison dark frog throws itself up and backwards towards a sharp pink bromeliad? Talent, possums. Just sheer talent.

A couple extra facts wouldn't have been out of place, of course. I'd have loved a definition of a "bromeliad", though the explanation that a mother poison dart frog will put her babies in one helped a little when coupled with Canyon's pictures. Still, some source notes would not have been out of place. Every once in a while my library's clientele will suddenly start a rainforest project, and any and every book I have on the topic is desired. Had Ms. Berkes put a small tot-friendly Bibliography of a scant two or three books in the back it would have made this book a fabulous storytime AND non-fiction source. Ah well. You go with what you've got.

None of this is to say that the back matter in this book isn't welcome. There's a printed selection of sheet music which allows the more talented amongst us to sing this song in our story programs. An amusing section entitled "How Many Babies Do They Really Have?" also clarifies points like the fact that in spite of the delightful suggestion that sloths can have nine babies at once, this is not actually the case. One wonders why it was put in the book in the first place, but at least the author had the good grace to nip concerns on the factual matter of the text in the bud. A nice portion on "The Rainforest Community" covers the four layers of tropical rainforest and even gives some nice websites for further information (kudos there).

It's a surprising little book, giving far more to the reader than they'd expect to receive. It's clear from the get-go that Ms. Berkes is certainly a former librarian, knowing as she does how important it is to put something this storytime-friendly into publication. Though I've a quibble here or there, this is a strong effort and worth owning. It also happens to make a very nice complement to Graeme Base's The Water Hole. Two thumbs up.

Fun rhyming book

Reviewed by Brooke James (age 4 ½) and Jen James (mom) for Reader Views (12/08)

"Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme" is a colorful rhyming book that teaches children numbers 1-10 while also teaching them about animals from the rainforest. The rhyme is the same rhythm as "Over in the Meadow."

Brooke says, "I like it. I like the mommy animals. I like the rhymes. I loved the finding animals' page!"

Parent's comments:

Brooke really enjoyed "Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme" by Marianne Berkes. The rhymes were fun as well as educational. The pictures were beautiful. Her favorite page was the hide-and-seek page with all of the rainforest animals from the book located on one page and you have to find them. After I read it to her the first time, she read it many times by herself.






Reviewed by Cayden (age 4) and Max (age 2) Aures and Mom for Reader Views (8/08)

"Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme" is part of the "A Simply Nature" series of books by Dawn Publications. In this one we explore different animals of the rainforest from marmosets, to poison dart frogs, to ocelots. Each page focuses on an animal and a number. In the back of the book there is a list of body movements to incorporate into the story as you are learning about the various animals.

Cayden: "This is a counting book too! Cool! We must have to only count the babies otherwise there would be two and not just one."

Cayden: "Look, the number is written in that leaf too!"

Max: "Blue butterfly!"

Cayden: "I have never heard of a leaf cutter ant before. I wonder if they cut the leaves with their mouths. They are real good at cutting though, look at that leaf!"

Max: "Snakes - ssssssssssss!!"
Cayden: "Those are boa snakes!"

Cayden: "Those monkeys look funny!!"

Cayden: "I liked this book! My favorite part was the game at the end with all of the animals and you have to try to find them. That part was real fun!"
Max: "Play monkey!"
Cayden: "I think Max's favorite part was when he got to act like a monkey!"

Parent's comments:

"Over in the Jungle" is an excellent book that taught my children a few new animals of the rainforest that they were not already familiar with. Cayden loves to count and counting was incorporated into each page which was definitely a hit with him. They both loved doing the different animal body motions that went along with the story. The "hide and seek" game at the end was a lot of fun for Cayden as he tried to find all 10 howler monkeys, all 9 sloths, etc. The illustrations in the book are very bright and eye-catching and are very useful in helping the children learn about the different animals. "Over the Jungle" by Marianne Berkes is a wonderful book that my children will want to read again and again!