PreS-K Rufus returns, stringing together traditional rhymes from "There Was a Little Girl" to "A Diller, A Dollar" and extending those rhymes with new verses as readers follow the group of pups throughout their day. Rufus introduces the story: "Why don't you hop aboard this bus/And spend a day in school with us?" The next page shows the pups in rain gear bustling down the hall to the rhyme "The Ants Go Marching." Trapani adds more humor with: "They march in step, in perfect rows, /the little one stops to pick her nose, /And they all go marching fast/To their class/To have fun/One by one!" The rhymes are perfectly situated within a realistic classroom setting, and a blackboard with early math lessons is paired with "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe." The colorfully dressed pups' expressions and body language are priceless. Also within the illustrations are hidden items with a prompting list at the book's end. Teachers can rhyme the morning agenda: "Come over, little waggly pups./Let's have our morning greeting./We'll talk about our day ahead, /And then we'll start off reading.""Teresa Pfeifer, Alfred Zanetti Montessori Magnet School, Springfield, MA" Copyright 2010 Media Source Inc.
Trapani "extends" fourteen traditional nursery rhymes and poems, writing new lines or stanzas for each, and setting them in a school populated by cheerful, scraggly dogs. Her words, though occasionally more contemporary than those of the original rhymes, mimic their rhythms well.
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