Besame Mucho! The Biggest Kiss by Joanna Walsh

KISSES ON NOSES,

KISSES ON TOESIES,

SUDDEN KISSES WHEN YOU LEAST SUPPOSES.

In her just-published The Biggest Kiss (Paula Wiseman Books) (Simon & Schuster, 2011) Joanna Walsh doesn't hesitate to go for sweet and cute in her new book celebrating the kiss.

"Everybody's doing it!" she seems to be saying, and her free-wheeling rhyming text playfully pulls out all the stops, varying meter and rhyme scheme, but sacrificing nothing in a headlong tour of the animal kingdom. Frog princes sell kisses to assorted fauna, and ants share a smooch perched on an azure elephant's trunk, while the elephant reaches off-page for a buddy to buss.

DO WORMS KISS UNDERGROUND,

WITH THE SOIL ALL AROUND?

But after a romantic roam through the animal kingdom, Walsh brings it home, with a the mother penguin narrator cuddling her little one with a reassuring penguin kiss:

BUT THE BEST KISS...

... IS A KISS FROM YOU!

The fun of Walsh's joyful verse is extended by Judi Abbott's cuddly, rounded critters and bright palette, producing an altogether heart-y book for sharing between adults and little ones.

Fidgety Feet! Dancing Feet by Lindsey Craig and Marc Brown

CREEPITY! CREEPITY!
LOTS OF PURPLE FEET.

WHO'S DANCING THAT CREEPITY BEAT?
CATERPILLAR DANCING ON CREEPITY FEET.


CREEPITY! CREEPITY!
HAPPY FEET!

Dancing, prancing, stomping, clomping--all come naturally to animals--and to kids. When kids need something fun but controlled to give their fidgety feet something to do, Lindsey Craig's brand-new Dancing Feet! (Alfred A. Knopf, 2010) is a boisterous, bouncing book just right for those times. Ladybug, elephant, duck, caterpillar, and lizard feet are all presented first, going tippety, stompity, slappity, creepity, and clickety, giving the kids a chance to guess whose feet are dancing to that beat, concluding with kid feet stepping out to their very own beat:

STAMPITY! STAMPITY!
WHO'S THAT DANCING TO THAT BEAT?

WE ARE DANCING TO THAT BEAT.
STAMPITY! STAMPITY!
HAPPY FEET!

Marc Brown, who gave us all those awesome Arthur picture books, videos, and the award-winning PBS cartoon series, dedicates his fresh colored paper collages here to the notable creators of the style, Leo Lionni and Eric Carle, and Brown's simple but subtle use of this medium gives Craig's text great verve and movement. In softly muted shades of oranges, golds, reds, greens, and purples, using familiar geometrical shapes, his animals have both texture and substance and a sense of joyous bounce perfect for preschoolers who need to move and groove.

Pair this one with Doreen Cronin's Bounce and Wiggle (Bccb Blue Ribbon Picture Book Awards (Awards)) (see my reviews here) for an audience-participation storytime session that will energize all!