Quick Booktalk
A small boy playing a flute begins an evening parade, inviting human and anthropomorphic animal friends to join him with musical instruments and other methods of making noise.
About the Illustrations
The illustrations use a lot of blue and white to create the effect of moonlight on the nighttime parade. Each figure is drawn with light, playful strokes that suggest their various movements as the parade processes. The reader can almost feel the rhythm of the text in the postures of the figures.
Story Time Possibilities
The text in this book begs to be read aloud, as it uses a lot of onomatopoetic expressions and repetition that lend themselves well to spoken performance and audience participation. I read it to a group that included someone of every age from infant up to 10 years old, and everyone liked it. The ending, which seems to lose the main thread of the story, was a bit confusing, but not to the point that the kids didn't enjoy it.
Readers Advisory
This book feels very similar to We're Going on a Bear Hunt. It also reminds me a lot of some other books I've received for review in the last year or two, like Ear Worm by Jo Knowles and The More the Merrier by David Martin, as well as the recently released Would You Come Too? by Liz Garton Scanlon. Christine Davenier is a long-time favorite illustrator of mine. She also did Early One Morning by Mem Fox.
Disclosure
I received a review copy of Here We Come! from Beach Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.
