More Movin' an' Groovin': Stretch by Doreen Cronin

Stretch with me.
Hands in the air!
Count to three.
Hold it right there!

With the publication of her brand-new-this-week Stretch (Atheneum, 2009) Caldecott author Doreen Cronin has completed her popular trilogy of preschool movement books, beginning with Wiggle (Bccb Blue Ribbon Picture Book Awards (Awards)) and continued with Bounce, (see my earlier review here) all led enthusiastically by an long-eared exercise hound decked out in bright digitally-colored illustrations by Scott Menchin which almost stretch right off the page.

Cronin and Menchin provide plenty of bouncy rhymes and witty illustrations to keep kids laughing through their latest collaboration:

Can you stretch to the ceiling?
Can you stretch to the floor?
Can you stretch with a whisper?
Can you stretch with a ROAR?

I stretch my lungs to take a breath,
Then blow out nice and slow.
A bubble will stretch and stretch...
Until there's no room left to grow. POP!
(Pink bubble gum splatters decorate our exercise guru's face!)

If you stretch me and I stretch you,
Who knows how far we can go!

These three short and sassy little books provide parents and preschool teachers with a built-in opportunity for movement--a welcome way to give kids a bouncing, wiggling, stretching break and a jolly rhyming storytime to boot!