How Do You Wokka-Wokka?
By Darienne Stewart,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Great read-aloud for energetic kids.
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What's the Story?
“Some days you wake up and you just gotta wokka,” this book begins as a boy bounds out of his house and dances onto the street. One by one, kids show off their dance moves and join him on a funky parade through the neighborhood.
Is It Any Good?
Scatting and hip-hop flavor this lively, irresistible read-aloud. Parents might want to rehearse it once or twice before story time. This demands an energetic, rhythmic reading, and occasional awkward lines can knock you out of your groove. That’s a shame, because there are some delightfully fun lines: “I wokka-wokka like a fish flop on a dock-a/flip-a-floppa off-the-docka put-me-back-in-wata-wata.” Stumbles aside, playful language and plenty of nonsense words will delight pre-readers.
It’s challenging enough to explain how to wokka-wokka, but even more challenging to draw it. S. Britt’s diverse cast of kids shimmies, shakes, slides, and hops through the streets.
It’s challenging enough to explain how to wokka-wokka, but even more challenging to draw it. S. Britt’s diverse cast of kids shimmies, shakes, slides, and hops through the streets.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about different ways to dance. The obvious question, of course: How do you wokka-wokka? Take turns showing how you wokka-wokka. Try someone else's wokka-wokka and see how it feels.
There are a lot of made-up words in this book. Did they make sense to you? Try making up some silly words to go with your new wokka-wokka.
Book Details
- Author: Elizabeth Bluemle
- Illustrator: Randy Cecil
- Genre: Picture Book
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Candlewick Press
- Publication date: August 11, 2009
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 3 - 5
- Number of pages: 32
- Last updated: July 12, 2017
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