Boogie Knights (by Lisa Wheeler)

Noise from the Monster Ball fills the castle, awakening the seven sleeping knights who, one by one, go down to investigate and end up dancing the night away.

When the castle comes alive with the rock-n-roll sounds of monster melodies, everyone gets involved. Before they know it, even the seven snoozing knights and the little prince are bouncing, bopping, and otherwise swinging to the beat. Told in playful rhyme, the story follows a technique familiar to many nursery rhymes and songs as one knight after another peels off to investigate. Each ends up at the dance "while upstairs, unawares," the repeating refrain reminds us, the others still snore away. First there were seven, then six, and so on.

Playful language and energetic charcoal and pencil illustrations create a party atmosphere that makes the Madcap Monster Ball look like so much fun. Who wouldn't want to join werewolves doing the hustle, zombies the bustle, mummies dancing the mambo and serpents the samba? Certainly the cleverly named knights Sir Veillance, Sir Prize, Sir Loin, Sir Round, Sir Cumference, Sir Ender, and Sir Vivor could not resist.

Author: Lisa Wheeler
Illustrator: Mark Siegel
Publisher: Atheneum
Publication date: August 5, 2008
Number of pages: 40
Hardcover price: $16.99
Read Aloud: 4
Read Alone: 8