Jiggle Joggle Jee!

From Barnes & Noble

"What does the train say?/Jiggle joggle, jiggle joggle/What does the train say?/Jiggle joggle jee!" Get on board for a rollicking picture book journey! In this irresistible tale, a baby hops on his toy locomotive for a wild ride through the colorful, enchanting world of his bedroom -- and his imagination. The catchy rhythm and rhyme of the classic verse will captivate little ones -- so much that they'll want to hear it over and over again, as they jiggle joggle their way to bedtime...and sweet dreams.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Originally published as The Baby Goes to Boston, this poem written by the late Richards in the early 1900s will send toddlers happily off to slumber. Williams (Cold Little Duck, Duck, Duck) takes an impressionistic approach in his watercolors as he pictures a youngster drifting off to sleep. Familiar images from the child's room break into the reverie as the child dreams of being a passenger aboard a toy train that flies above an enchanted landscape. To the accompaniment of Richards's locomotive rhythms, stuffed animals come alive and gleeful trees run over a field of giant colored pencils, "each chasing t'other one." As the "locomo" cheers its refrain, "Jiggle joggle, jiggle joggle, jiggle joggle jee!" the smokestack responds, "Loky moky poky stoky smoky choky chee!" The repetitive rhymes will have youngsters just beginning to play with language confidently chanting along. Williams's watercolors are stunners, densely colored yet shimmering with light, and effortlessly balance the reality of the toddler's bedroom with the fantasy of imaginative play. Ages 2-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature

In this poem, originally published in the early 1900s, a dreaming baby goes for a train ride. The illustrations show the baby riding an open book to the locomotive where it climbs aboard and joins a stuffed monkey, elephant and teddy bear. The train runs past the toy box along the ridge of a pencil until it takes off into the air and eventually arrives in a land of babies and sunlight. Toddlers will delight in the bouncy rhythm and the repetitive catchy phrases, such as "jiggle joggle jee," and "loky moky poky stoky" There are pencil and watercolor illustrations of happy teddy bears, trees with faces and the moon wearing a nightcap. Phrasing in a couple instances reflects the time period in which the poem was written: use of the word, "t'other" and "Are they running for to go/ Riding with the locomo?" While these may surprise the reader, they do not interfere with the cadence. This is a happy bedtime book for parents to share with their young children. The poet is the daughter of Julia Ward Howe, author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." 2001, Greenwillow Books,
— Sharon Salluzzo

School Library Journal

PreS-This illustrated version of a poem written in the early 1900s about a fanciful train ride is repetitive and makes extensive use of onomatopoeia and nonsense words. However, the rhyme is forced and not very appealing. "Will the little baby go/Riding with the locomo?/Loky moky poky stoky/smoky choky/chee!" It was originally intended as a lap-sit with the parent bouncing an infant in time to the rhyme, and the transition to a picture book simply does not work. The watercolor illustrations are overly busy and hard for young children to follow, and the picture of trees with faces chasing the train is bizarre. Stick with Eugene Field's Wynken, Blynken, and Nod (1995), illustrated by Johanna Westerman, or Shari Halpern's Hush Little Baby (1997, both North-South) for poems to read at bedtime.-Sheilah Kosco, Rapides Parish Library, Alexandria, LA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A turn-of-the-century poem is resurrected and paired with Williams's sparkling illustrations. Appearing originally as The Baby Goes to Boston (circa 1902), Richards's exuberant poem describes the sights and sounds of baby's whirlwind journey on an old-fashioned locomotive. Some of the syntax and word-choices whisper of yesteryear—e.g., "Are they running for to go / Riding with the locomo?" and "Each chasing t'other one"—and may cause modern tongues to trip at first. Yet, the rhythmic tempo and easy flow of the words quickly carries readers over these rough patches. Richards's nonsense rhymes have timeless appeal; the gleeful refrain "Jiggle joggle, Jiggle joggle, Jiggle joggle jee!" is as entrancing to little ones now as it was a hundred years ago. Williams's full-bleed watercolor and pencil illustrations are a perfect foil for the poem, deftly bridging the gap between the ages with a fantasy landscape that's straight from baby's dreams. A toy train chugs along with a cargo of stuffed animals, whizzing through a colorful, enchanting world filled with fairy castles, a smiling balloon sun, and cheery tots cavorting in a strawberry tree. The captivating illustrations clamor for leisurely, in-depth perusals and prove to be as beguiling as Richards's poem. Nostalgic and brimming with old-world charm, this merry romp is a great ride. (Picture book. 2-5)