Saturday, January 9, 2010

Kid Konnection - Review: The Grasshopper Hopped!

Yesterday, I shared with you a new idea for Kid Konnection -- a (hopefully) regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. Today, Booking Son and I are going to feature an adorable little picture book!

Summary: Hippity-Hop! Hippity-Hop!

Grasshopper hops off on an adventure that lands him in lots of peculiar places—the soup, which is too hot; the fridge, which is too cold; the sea, which is too salty; and into the mouth of the big hungry frog, which is . . . well, you’ll have to read more to find out! How far will poor Grasshopper have to hop before he finds the right place to be?

This funny and fun-filled story is brought to life with easy-to-move tabs that allow children to help the grasshopper find his favorite spot. -- Golden Books
Booking Son absolutely loved THE GRASSHOPPER HOPPED! by Elizabeth Alexander and illustrated by Joung Un Kim. In fact, when I asked him if he liked it, his response was "very much!" I thought the book was a little young for him (he's five), but I had a feeling that he would pick this book up anyway because there is a cute little bug on the cover. He's at that age where he goes back and forth between very early readers, longer storybooks, and pre-school type picture books!

He was very excited to see that this book included tabs that allowed him to participate in the reading. What kid doesn't love interactive books? I thought the tabs were pretty big and easy-to-use even for younger children. Every time the words read "Hippity-hop, hippity-hop..., there was a tab that moved the grasshopper back-and-forth and up and down! It was very cute!

The illustrations in this book were adorable. The background scenes were pretty simple but filled with bright colors. There were also a variety of background patterns that almost looked like the pages were cut out of patterned paper. I especially liked that the grasshopper wore little accessories on each page -- like earmuffs, an inner-tube, etc. -- depending on what he was exploring.

When I asked Booking Son what his favorite part of the story was, he didn't hesitate! He said, "when the grasshopper landed in the frog's mouth." As I read the story the first time, we both were quite surprised at the grasshopper's fate! However, the circumstances surrounding the grasshopper weren't quite as they seemed. There was a huge surprise ending and Booking Son thought it was absolutely hilarious. He likes this book so much that he wanted to read it over and over again. I actually caught him reading the book to himself this morning!

Thanks to the publisher for sending us a review copy of THE GRASSHOPPER HOPPED!

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books, please leave a comments as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book!

9 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Vance always loved interactive books too. I also think boys are just naturally drawn to bugs!

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I don't know any kid who doesn't love interactive books! They were always my favorite.

Love this new feature!

Nicole (Linus's Blanket) said...

I love this idea Julie. The review that I am going to share is an older one so I hope that is okay, but I just love The Wednesday Witch. It was one of my favorite books as a child!

Ali said...

This looks like a cute book, makes me almost wish my kids were young enough to appreciate it. (Almost)

Love this idea for a weekly feature, by the way. I'll be sure to schedule my next Kid Review for a weekend so I can participate.

Kristi said...

Yeah - I remembered!

Isn't it a good feeling when you find your kids unexpectedly with their nose in a book?

Happy Saturday!

A Bookshelf Monstrosity said...

I'll have a post to link here, but not until Tuesday. I'll be sure to spread the word about this feature.

Carrie said...

Again - great idea! I'll post about this event shortly.

Thanks for hosting!

As for The Grasshopper Hopped - that would be a HUGE hit in our household! Thanks for pointing it out!

Sherrie said...

Hi Julie,
Great idea! Mine is posted at my place, Just Books. Have a great day!

Sherrie
Just Books
http://sherriesbooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/kids-konnection.html

Anonymous said...

Julie,

Mine's a crafty book. I hope that's okay.