Rocksy

Description

Somehow Roxanne always gets scraped and bruised when she plays...until she wishes out loud that she were made of stone! From the Magic Wood comes "Kaplickety, zickety zock," and the Wise Old Woman turns Roxanne into rock. At first, she relishes her new-found freedom to jump and skip and run. But as her bicycle tires go flat beneath her heavy frame and pebble tears fall from her stony eyes, Rocksy regrets her careless wish. The Wise Old woman reverses the trick and comes up with a brilliant new plan - she turns herself into the Playground Coach! Fancy footwork, nifty flips, leaping and hopping and instant stopping. The Playground Coach shows all the kids how to play without ever hurting at all.

Loris Lesynski is an author, illustrator, poet, and graphic designer. "Rocksy" is her fifth rhyming picture book, following the success of "Boy Soup" (1996), "Ogre Fun" (1997), "Catmagic" (1998), and "Night School" (2001). She has also written and illustrated two collections of rollicking, rhyming poetry, "Dirty Dog Boogie" (1999, re-issued in full color 2002) and "Nothing Beats a Pizza" (2001). Loris is a popular and frequent speaker on the reading conference circuit, and makes many appearances at schools and libraries across North America. She lives in Toronto.

The tone is lively in the way of modern fare and tempting to read-aloud readers. Loris Lesynski's attention to word and sound is evident -- you wouldn't expect less from a specialist in rhythm and rhyme. Recommended.--Cora Lee"Canadian Materials" (03/14/2003)