Jazzmatazz!

Calmenson, Stephanie. 2008. Jazzmatazz! Ill. by Bruce Degan. Harper Collins.

A bright and breezy, rhyming romp through a jazzy household. A piano-playing mouse livens up the house with a refrain of "Doo-dat, diddy-dat, Diddy-dat, doo!" The mouse dances upon the piano keys,

"Doo-dat, diddy-dat, Diddy-dat, doo!
I plink, plink, plink. How about you?
Mouse points to Dog,
With his bones and bowl.
"I play my drum with
My heart and soul!"

Cat plays the fiddle, Bird sings, Fish bubbles, and Baby, Mom and Dad all tap. A few of the rhymes do not flow easily, but for the most part, this book with its joyful and colorful illustrations by Bruce Degan works.

This would be fun for storytime with Lisa Wheeler and R. Gregory Christie's 2008 Theodore Seuss Geisel award winner, Jazz Baby, Leo and Diane Dillon's, Jazz on a Saturday Night, or 2008 Odyssey Award winner, Jazz by Walter Dean Myers. There seems to be no shortage of jazzy books this year!