Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Word Music

Z does not discriminate by section when choosing his books at the library. This week he grabbed one on display in the poetry section and it has turned out to be his favorite and one of my favorites too! The book is Tanka Tanka Skunk by first-time British picture book author Steve Webb and on the front cover it says "Stamp your feet to the Skunka Tanka beat!" The premise is that words have rhythm and you can say different words and make musical poetry. In this case, they use animal names. Here's the jacket blurb which explains the method behind this noisy madness --
Meet Tanka and his friend, Skunk. When you say their names together, they sound like drums.
Steve Webb's innovative and visually stunning picture book introduces young readers to simple rhythms with this riot of shout-out-loud words and cavorting animals. Reading is fun, as the text and animals leap and dance across the pages.

This is an amazing book to read out loud. I will catch Z sitting around saying "lemur, llama, llama, lemur" or many of the other musical animal combinations. This is the perfect introduction to poetry and rhythm for all little ones. I have even used it to teach Z about syllables.

Singing, Reading, Talking, Stomping,
K and Z

p.s. Happy Children's Book Week!


Buy Tanka Tanka Skunk at The Book Depository or find it at your local library.

2 comments:

  1. This one sounds really fun. I like books you can really get into, like Sandra Boyton's Barnyard Dance.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We love this book too, but completely forgot about it!! I've got to add this one to my list so I can remember to get it at some point!! It's so fun!!

    ReplyDelete