Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!

Games, Songs, and Stories from an African American Childhood

Illustrated by Brian Pinkney
Look inside
"Part songbook, part research text, this work is perfect for families to share together or for young scholars who seek to discover an important piece of cultural history."— School Library Journal, starred review

From Newbery Honor winner Patricia C. McKissack and two-time Caldecott Honor winner Brian Pinkney comes an extraordinary must-have collection of classic playtime favorites.

This very special book is sure to become a treasured keepsake for African American families and will inspire joy in all who read it.

 
Parents and grandparents will delight in sharing this exuberant book with the children in their lives. Here is a songbook, a storybook, a poetry collection, and much more, all rolled into one. Find a partner for hand claps such as “Eenie, Meenie, Sassafreeny,” or form a circle for games like “Little Sally Walker.” Gather as a family to sing well-loved songs like “Amazing Grace” and “Oh, Freedom,” or to read aloud the poetry of such African American luminaries as Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. And snuggle down to enjoy classic stories retold by the author, including Aesop’s fables and tales featuring Br’er Rabbit and Anansi the Spider.
 
"A rich compilation to stand beside Rollins’s Christmas Gif’ and Hamilton’s The People Could Fly." —The Horn Book
 
"An ebullient collection.... There is an undeniable warmth and sense of belonging to these tales." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred
PATRICIA MCKISSACK is one of the most acclaimed authors writing for children today. She has written many award-winning books, including Never Forgotten, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book; Porch Lies, an ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book; The Dark Thirty, a Newbery Honor Book; Let My People Go, recipient of the NAACP Image Award; and Mirandy and Brother Wind, a Caldecott Honor Book. Her other books include The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll, Goin' Someplace Special, and Precious and the Boo Hag. Patricia and her husband, Frederick McKissack, are the recipients of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

LEO and DIANE DILLON have illustrated over 60 books for children and have received just about every honor and award imaginable. They are the winners of two Caldecott Medals (Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears and Ashanti to Zulu), five New York Times Best Illustrated Awards (including one for the Knopf book, The People Could Fly), and numerous Coretta Scott King Awards. View titles by Patricia C. McKissack
Educator Guide for Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!

Classroom-based guides appropriate for schools and colleges provide pre-reading and classroom activities, discussion questions connected to the curriculum, further reading, and resources.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

Classroom Activities for Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!

Classroom activities supplement discussion and traditional lessons with group projects and creative tasks. Can be used in pre-existing units and lessons, or as stand-alone.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

  • SELECTION | 2017
    Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best Books
"A comprehensive treasury of memories, verbal art, and play." — Kirkus, starred review

"It’s a collection valuable both for its rich assembly of songs and stories that have delighted, comforted, and inspired generations of black families and for the illuminating historical context that McKissack brings to each selection."— Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Part songbook, part research text, this work is perfect for families to share together or for young scholars who seek to discover an important piece of cultural history."— School Library Journal, starred review

About

"Part songbook, part research text, this work is perfect for families to share together or for young scholars who seek to discover an important piece of cultural history."— School Library Journal, starred review

From Newbery Honor winner Patricia C. McKissack and two-time Caldecott Honor winner Brian Pinkney comes an extraordinary must-have collection of classic playtime favorites.

This very special book is sure to become a treasured keepsake for African American families and will inspire joy in all who read it.

 
Parents and grandparents will delight in sharing this exuberant book with the children in their lives. Here is a songbook, a storybook, a poetry collection, and much more, all rolled into one. Find a partner for hand claps such as “Eenie, Meenie, Sassafreeny,” or form a circle for games like “Little Sally Walker.” Gather as a family to sing well-loved songs like “Amazing Grace” and “Oh, Freedom,” or to read aloud the poetry of such African American luminaries as Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. And snuggle down to enjoy classic stories retold by the author, including Aesop’s fables and tales featuring Br’er Rabbit and Anansi the Spider.
 
"A rich compilation to stand beside Rollins’s Christmas Gif’ and Hamilton’s The People Could Fly." —The Horn Book
 
"An ebullient collection.... There is an undeniable warmth and sense of belonging to these tales." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

Author

PATRICIA MCKISSACK is one of the most acclaimed authors writing for children today. She has written many award-winning books, including Never Forgotten, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book; Porch Lies, an ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book; The Dark Thirty, a Newbery Honor Book; Let My People Go, recipient of the NAACP Image Award; and Mirandy and Brother Wind, a Caldecott Honor Book. Her other books include The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll, Goin' Someplace Special, and Precious and the Boo Hag. Patricia and her husband, Frederick McKissack, are the recipients of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

LEO and DIANE DILLON have illustrated over 60 books for children and have received just about every honor and award imaginable. They are the winners of two Caldecott Medals (Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears and Ashanti to Zulu), five New York Times Best Illustrated Awards (including one for the Knopf book, The People Could Fly), and numerous Coretta Scott King Awards. View titles by Patricia C. McKissack

Guides

Educator Guide for Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!

Classroom-based guides appropriate for schools and colleges provide pre-reading and classroom activities, discussion questions connected to the curriculum, further reading, and resources.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

Classroom Activities for Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out!

Classroom activities supplement discussion and traditional lessons with group projects and creative tasks. Can be used in pre-existing units and lessons, or as stand-alone.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

Awards

  • SELECTION | 2017
    Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best Books

Praise

"A comprehensive treasury of memories, verbal art, and play." — Kirkus, starred review

"It’s a collection valuable both for its rich assembly of songs and stories that have delighted, comforted, and inspired generations of black families and for the illuminating historical context that McKissack brings to each selection."— Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Part songbook, part research text, this work is perfect for families to share together or for young scholars who seek to discover an important piece of cultural history."— School Library Journal, starred review

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