Boogie Knights

Boogie Knights (4/5 stars)
words by Lisa Wheeler and pictures by Mark Siegel
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books (August 5, 2008)
Seven knights are sleeping tightly when they are awakened, in ones or twos, by odd music and sounds. As they go to investigate, they each discover the rockin' Monster Ball. A side story, told only in pictures, shows the little prince also trying to see what is going on and meeting a ghost princess in the bargain.

The tale is told mostly in rhyme, with some cute lines and some groan-worthy puns. There are times when it seems like the actions just aren't explained well enough, and times when the story-rhymes just don't seem to flow. The fun repetition sounds and bouncy word play make up for a lot, though, and will make it very enjoyable for children in the 4-6 age range, especially those still learning to read or that love the sound of words.

The illustrations, on the other hand, are wonderful--a solid 5 stars. Expressive and beautifully colored, these illustrations could probably tell the story on their own, as they do in the parallel story of the prince and princess.

An enjoyable book overall, I would expect the words and pictures to make it a favorite for many of the pre-school crowd.

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Thanks to Amazon for this Amazon Vine book to review.