Jump Rope Magic

Children's Literature

To the rhythm of the turning jump rope Shameka jumps and sings her jumping rhymes with her friends. Old Miss Minnie comes out to complain about the noise as usual. Instead of running away, Shameka draws her into the jumping rhythm, until Miss Minnie says, "I'm going to heaven, and I won't come down. I'll be sitting on the moon where I can't see the ground." Does she really get up there, except in the pictures? In any case, Shameka takes up the rope and the rhythm again with her crew until "Shameka jumped out!" Diaz invents a vision to match the lyrics of the jumpers. His palette is bright, with figures puppet-like in their articulated joints and doll faces, drawn in thin black lines unlike his usual heavy outlines. The urban landscape is fancifully decorated with trees and flowers, as the arc of the rope seems to propel the children and Miss Minnie into acrobatic heights. The reader feels the energy pulse as the words are chanted, preferably out loud. 2000, Blue Sky Press/Scholastic Inc., Ages 5 to 8, $16.95. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz