# 35- Tap Dancing on the Roof (2007)

Tap Dancing on the Roof (2007)

Linda Sue Park

Illustrated by Istvan Banyai

Park has written a series of quirky poems written in the Kirean tradition of Sijo poetry, which consists of 3 lines of 16 syllables total. In the endpages, the author explains the format:

Line 1- Introduction to topic

Line 2- Develops topic

Line 3- Twist

The third line is where reader’s expectations are challenged. These twists may include irony, unexpected imagery, or a play on words. Park has also included some tips for writing your own poem.

Banyai’s ink and paint illustrations are a perfect complement to these ironic poems. He has created pages full of movement. For the poem “Long Division,” Banyai has included a child hanging off of a division sign and elaborates on the concept, adding a child cutting numbers and carrying away a huge slice of an oversized cake. As in much of his art, the illustrator uses a black and white palette with colors to accent parts of the illustrations.

Teachers will find some science connections in some of the twists in the poems. “Tide Line” is an example, along with “Frog,” where Park asks the creature if it wonders what happened to its tail and readers must infer about the meaning.

# 2- The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors (2009)

The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors (2009)

Chris Barton

Illustrated by Tony Persiani

This brilliant picturebook about the inventors of Day-Glo offers an inspiring story with several science and social studies connections.

The storyline follows brothers Joe and Bob through their experimentation with neon colors and emphasizes their persistence in improving the product they developed throughout their lives. Initially, Joe used their discovery to create illusions for his magic shows, and Bob thought of more practical uses for the colors that could pay his medical bills after an accident thwarted his dreams of becoming a doctor. Barton later reveals important uses for day-glo and fluorescent colors, including a variety of uses during World War II.

Persiani’s strategic use of neon color in the book mirrors the brothers’ enlightenment as each discovery is made. The first pages engage the reader by depicting impossible scenes like neon green pyramids and a bright orange Statue of Liberty, then going on to explain the discoveries made by the Switzer brothers. The drawings look like 1950s cartoons and feature a black and white palette. Neon images in the digitally created scenes highlight the discoveries and various uses of fluorescence and Day-Glo.

The endpages feature bright neon yellow, orange and green tones that appear throughout the book, as well as a section explaining the differences and basic scientific principles behind fluorescence and Day-Glo. There is also a link to an animation about how regular, fluorescent, and daylight fluorescence work: www.charlesbridge.com/day-glo-animation.html

Children will be inspired to explore their surroundings and make the best of the situations they find themselves in just as the Switzer brothers did. Teachers will enjoy the delightful science connection in this book, and will want to point out how Joe’s original idea began as he read his favorite magazine, Popular Science.