Acoustic Rooster’s Barnyard Boogie Starring Indigo Blume

PreS-Gr 2–A young girl named Indigo Blume is nervous about singing in front of a large crowd. After her mother sings her to sleep, Indigo wakes up inside her favorite book. She meets a talking animal band led by a fowl named Acoustic Rooster. After the barn is destroyed, Indigo organizes a concert to raise funds for rebuilding. When she wakes up, she has the courage to perform her solo. Like Dorothy returning from Oz, Indigo wonders if Acoustic Rooster and pals were real. Indigo’s anxiety is subtly conveyed. The more she worries, the larger the crowd grows in her mind: first hundreds, then thousands, then millions of people. Characters sometimes sing their lines of dialogue, indicated by music notes around word bubbles. Song lyrics are either expository or encouraging platitudes. Characters sing only a line or two at a time, requiring readers to create their own melody and rhythm. Acoustic Rooster’s band members have names that salute actual musicians, such as Dairy Parton, Chickee Minaj, Duck Ellington, and Mules Davis on trumpet.