And wonderfully, it celebrates human hands and all of the amazing things that they can do.
Oversized
and abundant with activities for children big and small, the book takes us on a
hand-raising adventure which encourages us to do things that aren’t always
encouraged at story time; to make our hands leap and dance and tap and jump and
zoom and flip and roll and float and cavort and galumph.
I have to confess, my first reading of this book was silent and quiet. I didn’t actually follow the instructions but rather, just read it through. More fool me!
Because then,
oh my goodness, I followed the prompts and did the actions (again by myself
with nobody to see me and laugh!). And it was a wonder! It felt so good to
place my hand on a picture of another hand and then to dance it, to flip it, to
turn it into a rocket or an autumn leaf or a simple roly-poly thing.
With
illustrations of red, yellow and blue that glide and push and smear themselves
over the page in globs, lines, splotches and blobs, this book has a strong
life-force and tremendous appeal.
The illustrations are accessible and something that all children will be able to reproduce in their own artistic creations, and then build upon if their imaginations are sparked.
This book is total joy. Children will love it and parents, if they are willing to be interactive and engaged with the hand-dancing, chonking and whiffling, will love it too.
Title: Tap! Tap! Tap! Dance! Dance! Dance!
Author/Illustrator: Herve Tullet
Publisher: Allen & Unwin, $27.99
Publication Date: 2 May 2023
Format: Picture Book
ISBN: 9781761180231
For ages: 3 - 6
Type: Picture Book
