PreS-When Gramma comes to visit, she charms her granddaughter with her shadow-puppet guessing game. Imagination allows Elephant, Ostrich, Rhino, and Monkey to escape the curtain and join the humans for the final page's Hooray Parade. Joosse's rollicking rhythms and repetition, "snorting out red confetti, ready ready red confetti," keep the energy up. Yum uses watercolors and linoleum block prints in her cavorting cartoons. The spunky granddaughter has curly red hair, a pink flounced skirt, and striped tights. Animals are attired in everything from a black tie to party hats to jeweled rings. This cheery romp will require slow reading of its tongue-twisting text, but this mood lifter is worth it.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Awkward verse rains on this homemade parade. Gramma arrives on her pink bicycle (seen through the window) with homemade banana bread and a basket full of surprises (although the basket could never hold all that comes out). From that basket, Gramma creates the titular "hooray parade" with puppets behind a curtain rigged across the window. Readers join the granddaughter and her stuffed toys in guessing which animal is coming next, with shadows providing hints. Jaunty, repetitive rhymes are often awkward: "Rhinoceri are bobbing by / orange balloons on their fingers / orange balloons on their toeses / orange balloons on the horns on top of their noses / balloony here, balloony there / balloony rhinos everywhere." Bold pastel illustrations and colorful captions stand out against a white background, good for sharing with a group. But, there is nothing new or interesting here, and there's no real story. An accompanying song by Joosse, "Hip Hooray Parade," may be found on her website. Recommended only for those in desperate need of more interactive books for preschool children or for avid fans of the author. (Picture book. 2-5)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gramma visits bringing a surprise "Hooray Parade" (a puppet show) for her granddaughter. The simple query "Can you guess what's coming next?" prompts an elephant, monkey, and other puppetry whose shadows prance across the makeshift stage illustrated with warm watercolor and linoleum block prints. The sometimes-awkward rhymed text, however, stymies the narrative flow. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Joosse (Lovabye Dragon) celebrates imagination and a grandmother's creativity in this carefree story loosely based on her children's song, "Hip Hooray Parade." Framed as a guessing game, the book has a sense of playfulness that derives from freewheeling verse, rhyme and repetition, and nonsense words. Much to the delight of her granddaughter, the contents of Gramma's basket are gradually revealed when she hangs up a sheet and uses props to create shadows that hint at the identity of various animals ("Gallump gallump./ Can you guess what's coming up?"). A page flip shows the entire animal in full color and high spirits: an elephant with "a pink and purple stripy trunk" balances on a ball; rhinoceri tethered to orange balloons float in the air; and a kangaroo and her joey are "a-rooting and a-tooting" their blue kazoos. Yum (Mom, It's My First Day of Kindergarten!) uses watercolors and linoleum block prints to create spare yet festive illustrations, which pop from the white backdrop. A jubilant parade led by Gramma and granddaughter caps off this rousing and affectionate romp. Ages 3-5. Illustrator's agent: Sean McCarthy, Sheldon Fogelman Agency. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.