Tap Tap Boom Boom

Starred review from December 9, 2013
In toe-tapping, jazz-chant verse, author, bookseller, and PW blogger Bluemle (How Do You Wokka-Wokka?) writes about the way a sudden thunderstorm “makes friends/ of strangers.” At the story’s start, two boys in a playground gaze through iron railings at a girl in a yellow dress hurrying to keep up with her father. On an ordinary day she’d disappear into the crowd, but when the rain starts pelting down, the boys, the girl and her father, and half a dozen others dash for the subway station: “Feet wetter?/ You’d better/ go down/ underground,/ where the water/can’t getcha./ You betcha.” Over photographic images of subway fixtures, Karas (The Apple Orchard Riddle) draws people chatting, sharing pizza, and shrinking away as their dogs shake themselves off, balancing the force of the storm with the warmth of city-dwellers sharing an unexpected break in their day. Bluemle’s story unfolds on a scale just right for preschoolers, with plenty of hullaballoo, subtle attention to the senses, and an affirmation of the way misfortune can lead to small miracles. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

April 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 2-An enormous raindrop opposite the title page introduces readers to the reflected setting-an urban playground, seen from above. The perspective shifts to a child's-eye view on the opening spread as two friends gaze through the wrought iron gates at the ominous clouds. Karas's winsome, multicultural caricatures inhabit a neighborhood that appears lifelike due to his use of photographs for buildings and subway details. As children and adults dash between the showers and thunderbolts to the safety of the underground station, Bluemle's taut, clever verse propels the plot: "Feet wetter?/You'd better/go down/underground, /where the water/can't getcha./You betcha." Down below, dogs shake out their fur on everyone, a bagpiper and drummer serenade the crowd, pizza is divided, and umbrellas are shared-the storm forms a community. Although the weather is a threatening presence, the underlying cozy mood is set by the warm, creamy backgrounds that stage the gouache, pencil, and collage scenes. When the group emerges back up into the daylight, a dazzling surprise awaits them. The titular refrain-printed in a bigger, bolder font-offers multiple possibilities for audience participation as the story progresses. This upbeat rendition of a common experience will have universal appeal. Don't wait for a rainy day to share the fun.-Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2014
A sudden thunderstorm inspires an impromptu gathering of congenial strangers. It all begins with darkening skies and a few drops of rain. Out come the umbrellas as the thunder roars, the wind swirls, and the rain comes pouring down. People make a run for it to the shelter of the subway. There are lots of smiles and laughter and sharing--a brief communal moment--and then it's over, and everyone disperses to see a rainbow: "[s]urprise in sky." Bluemle employs bouncy, fast-paced rhymes and rhythms with words that emphasize sound and movement. The title phrase repeats throughout, augmented by "slam bang" and with an additional "crackle" to indicate lightning as the storm intensifies. The text, appropriately varied in size and boldness to match the storm's activity, moves across mostly double-paged spreads and intermingles with the illustrations. Karas, perhaps influenced by Mo Willems' Knuffle Bunny, sets gouache and pencil drawings within collages of photographs of New York City. Backgrounds appear subtly rain-washed or as faded sepia photos of buildings. Blacks, grays and earth tones are highlighted with taxi-yellow and occasional pops of orange, red and green. The ethnically diverse characters are animated as they head for the subway stairs, and there are delightful details to elicit giggles from young readers. Cuddle up for a rainy-day adventure. (Picture book. 3-7)

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March 15, 2014
Preschool-G A rainstorm begins with a tap tap and a boom boom, sprinkling cold drops on people in a busy neighborhood block. Cars splash puddles onto pedestrians, and the wind blows both the birds and raindrops helter-skelter. Children will enjoy following the various characters as they put up umbrellas, splash through puddles, and run for cover down the subway stairs: You'd better / go down / underground, / where the water / can't getcha. / You betcha. On the subway platform, a dripping dog shakes himself off onto a little boy; strangers make friends as they share a pizza and listen to a drummer play a duet with a bagpiper; dogs socialize with grinning children; and conversations begin. Then surprise! a rainbow appears as they all emerge from the subway into the clear light of the bright afternoon. Karas' colorful, detailed, and lively picturescreated using photographs, gouache, and pencilare the perfect vehicle for Bluemle's succinct, catchy rhymes that energetically describe a sudden rainstorm in the city.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
Bluemle uses rhymes and rhythms to convey sudden changes in weather: "Sky grumbles. / Rain tumbles..." Collage illustrations show city-dwellers, of all ethnicities, ages, and sizes, hustling down to the subway to wait out the storm. Karas's pictures combine painting, drawing, and photographs to show the grit, energy, and beauty of the urban scene and its amusingly quirky people.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 1, 2014
Many picture books about storms are set in the country (e.g., Shetta Crum's Thunder-Boomer!, rev. 7/09), but this one takes place in the big city. Bluemle uses rhymes and rhythms to convey the sudden changes in the weather: "Sky grumbles. / Rain tumbles. / Big weather -- / you'd better / get under / umbrella! / 'Cause thunder / is coming: / BOOM BOOM." Collage illustrations catch the city people from a variety of perspectives, looking up at the sky, clinging to umbrellas, and then hustling down to the subway for shelter, pummeled by fat raindrops. People of all ethnicities, ages, and sizes (along with their dogs) wait out the storm, while musicians play and pizza and umbrellas are shared. The emphasis here is not on a child's fear of storms but on the excitement of the experience, all finished with "a surprise in the sky" of a rainbow. Karas's pictures combine painting, drawing, and photographs to show the grit, energy, and beauty of the urban scene and its amusingly quirky people. This would make a great pair with John Rocco's Blackout, with both books celebrating the urban experience of community. susan dove lempke

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)