One, Two, Three O'Leary - Softcover

Malachy Doyle is an extremely talented, prize-winning author. He has written several picture books for Simon and Schuster. The Dancing Tiger won the Nestle Children's Book Prize Silver Award, and Cow won the English Association Award for Non-Fiction. Malachy lives in County Donegal, Ireland

PreSchool-Grade 2–Doyle strings together traditional skipping, ball-bouncing, and counting-out rhymes to create a boisterous bedtime story. The 10 O'Leary children are tucked into a large bed by their parents. As soon as their mother and father leave the room, however, they begin to bounce on the bed to a series of rhythmic rhymes ("Ibble obble,/Blue bottle,/Ibble obble OUT!" or "Red, white, and blue,/The cat's got flu,/The dog's got chicken pox,/And OUT goes you!"). Each poem ends with one of the children landing on the floor. Eventually, every young O'Leary is "OUT," and then the grown-ups come in to join the action. In the end, the little ones return to bed. Some of the rhymes are based on traditional Irish chants, and some are a bit nonsensical, but all are great fun. Featuring crisp, bold colors, the collage and mixed-media illustrations show this family enjoying a rip-roaring good time. The tongue-twisting text will have kids laughing out loud.–Wanda Meyers-Hines, Ridgecrest Elementary School, Huntsville, AL
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