Leap!

A flea sleeping in the moss is bothered by midges that make him fidget until he leaps, startling a grasshopper. The grasshopper begins jumping and finally lands on a bunny. The surprised bunny bounds away, allowing a dog to get a good whiff of him. The dog barks at the winds, bouncing, springing, and lunging. And so it goes, animal after animal — including a bullfrog, fish, horse, and more — each causing another to bound or gambol or plunge or lurch into action until everything comes full circle with the flea and the dog together, worn out and falling asleep.

Author Jon Arno Lawson masterfully writes a fun story with wonderful rhythm and rhyme that will keep young listeners trying to guess what comes next. Lawson’s use of crisp, fun action verbs adds to the rollicking feel of the story, and the lively, colorful illustrations by Josee Bisaillon, rich with lots of details to keep young eyes wandering the pages, perfectly complete the story. This is a great book for doing read-alouds with kids up to about age six and, because of the rhyming, metered text, will really work well with youngsters as little as two.