Friday, February 27, 2015

Tap Tap Boom Boom (Rhyme)


TitleTap Tap Boom Boom
Author: Elizabeth Bluemle
Illustrator: G. Brian Karas
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Year: 2014
Word Count: 263
Top 10 Element: Rhyme

I am participating in Picture Books 14:14, a challenge created by Christie of Write Wild that encourages bloggers to review 14 picture books in 14 days, starting on Feb. 14th. I am also including this post for Poetry Friday, which this week is being hosted by Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe.

Tap Tap Boom Boom is based on the author's own experience with an urban rain storm. This delightful story reads much like a spoken word piece and is a book that begs to be read aloud, likely again and again. This book is a Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book this year. You can read about the other Zolotow winners here.

Analysis: Rhyme

Again, like with Nocturne last week, I have chosen to highlight a picture book for rhyme that is really more about the rhythm than a strict rhyme scheme. The sharp staccato of mainly two-word lines mimics the pattern of the arriving, crashing, and departing storm, while the repetition of the title phrase creates a refrain that echoes through the story.


The opening lines, shown above, give you a taste for the style of this poem. You can find typical rhymes (air/hair) but also alliteration (dark clouds/damp/cold drops/dot) and repetition (tap tap). When I brought this book into my classroom, a group of boys immediately decided to read it out loud to each other. Totally unprompted, the lead reader ended up turning the book into a song.

Try it yourself. See if you can resist the urge.


Want more picture book analyses? Click here to read my other posts for Picture Books 14:14 or check out these other great posts for the Picture Book 14:14 Challenge going on the rest of this month.

19 comments:

  1. I can hear the child in your class rapping these words. There's a pattern that creates a great beat.

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    1. Exactly, Manju. And the pattern of the beat and rhythm keeps changing, which makes it engaging too.

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  2. I love how he just naturally sang the story! It does have a great sound to it, and I love when books combine nature and cities (I think sometimes we accidentally give kids the perception that nature is only something that happens in countrysides...). Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Great point, Laura! Wind and weather affect us all, for sure.

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  3. I love when kids pick up books and bring them to live with their reading and interpretations!

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    1. Absolutely! Shh! We Have a Plan is a totally different book for me, because I can hear the voice of a certain student reading it with glee.

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  4. Rap rap...I can see boys loving this rhythm! Great example of rhyme and rhythm, Katie. I'll be looking for this book.

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  5. I love rhyme that is rhythmic too. It lends itself to read like a song. I would have read this to my students aloud if I knew about it!

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    1. Yes, it is definitely a book that begs to be read out loud.

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  6. The choppy rhyme lends itself well to rapping. I bet the children had a blast with this. And how cool for you, too.

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    1. Thanks, Linda. Yes, it quickly became a class favorite.

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  7. I love books like this that effectively inspire children to make it theirs - transform it into something else, appropriating it to fit their own lived realities. Thank you also for such a detailed analysis! :)

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    1. Thanks, Myra! That's such an excellent way of putting it.

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  8. This looks like a winner for kindergarten weather studies--and a great comparison with "April Rain Song." Thanks, Katie!

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    1. Do you mean the poem, April Rain Song, Heidi? That is such a lovely poem, and it definitely would make for an interesting comparison, as this is quite a different kind of storm than soft, lovely sprinkles.

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  9. This is a great example of how something general like "rain" can be made magical by focusing on the specifics of one rain experience. Could be a wonderful discussion about all the different kinds of rain, how to be a poet/scientist/person in the here and now requires attention to these differences. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks, Irene! Absolutely agreed, and what a great way to honor kids' other interests too.

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  10. That was awesome, Katie! Thanks so much for sharing. It's great to get ideas on how to write from reading others' lessons.

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