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44th out of 76 books
—
225 voters
Song and Dance Man
Illus. in full color. "In this affectionate story, three children follow their grandfather up to the attic, where he pulls out his old bowler hat, gold-tipped cane, and his tap shoes. Grandpa once danced on the vaudeville stage, and as he glides across the floor, the children can see what it was like to be a song and dance man. Gammell captures all the story's inherent joi...more
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
January 14th 2003
by Knopf Books for Young Readers
(first published 1988)
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I loved reading this story because it reminded me of my grandpa. Whenever I would go to visit my grandparents, I always remember my grandpa telling us how different things are today than when he was young. He would always tell us how there were no tvs, cell phones, computers, or anything like that and he would have to go to the theatre for entertainment. In this story, the grandpa tells his grandkids about the times he would perform on stage and sing and dance for lots of people. He even dressed...more
Song and Dance Man wasn't my favorite children's book. With that being said, I think it lacks a lesson for children to learn. The book is about a grandpa who use to dance to songs (tap dance) and perform back when there wasn't any television and radio. The grandpa takes his grandchildren to the attic where he shows them a few moves he use to do. This book would probably be a good leisure read for children in first grade but I don't think it should be read in school. it just lacks the depth of te...more
Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman is a book I remember having read to me in elementary school, but it was still fun and enjoyable for me to read now. The story is about a grandfather who is spending the day with his grandchildren. He takes them up to the attic to tell them about a time long ago when people found entertainment in things other than the television. He performs for them the show her used to do on "vaudeville." It was a cute story and an easy read.
The illustrations in this book ar...more
The illustrations in this book ar...more
1989 Caldecott Medal Winner
The illustrations in this story are very colorful and look to be done in colored pencil. The illustrations really help tell the story, the story wouldn't be as good without the illustrations, I don't think that the story would work as well. The medium lends to the story and really helps capture the story and the characters, the pictures are pretty and help the story.
This is the story of a grandfather and his grandchildren, they come for a visit and he shares his past...more
The illustrations in this story are very colorful and look to be done in colored pencil. The illustrations really help tell the story, the story wouldn't be as good without the illustrations, I don't think that the story would work as well. The medium lends to the story and really helps capture the story and the characters, the pictures are pretty and help the story.
This is the story of a grandfather and his grandchildren, they come for a visit and he shares his past...more
Words cannot describe all the things I love about this book. The Song and Dance Man is about an aging gentleman who puts on an old-style Vaudeville show for his three grandchildren when they come over for lunch. The book captures a lot of the quirky humor Vaudeville acts would use, and the hodge-podge feel of that style of show--part revue, part improvisation, part spectacle.
This book inspired my love of theater history, and even if that's not something you enjoy or wish to impress upon your chi...more
This book inspired my love of theater history, and even if that's not something you enjoy or wish to impress upon your chi...more
"grandpa was a song and dance man who once danced on the Vaudeville stage." starts off this story. His grandchilren are visiting and telling the story. As grandpa reminisces they follow him up the wooden steps of the attic. The attic hints of the song and dance days: posters, costumes, a guitar case and grandpa's look of pride. Grandpa puts on his tap shoes, vest, bowtie and the show begins with attic lights spotting on his shoes. The children are cheering him on and grandpa is putting on his st...more
The illustrations in this picture book show true emotion and love between a grandfather and his grandchildren and the dedication he has to entertain them. One of the criteria for the Caldecott Medal is for a picture book to be illustrated with excellent pictorial interpretation of story, theme, and concept. In Song and Dance Man, we see a strong theme of love for family and music displayed through the illustrations and the story of how the grandfather works with his grandchildren and music. A re...more
In Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman, three grandchildren spend the evening with their grandpa, but this turns out to be no ordinary night. Grandpa decides to explore the contents of an old leather-trimmed trunk in hopes to reconnect with his good old days. As his grandchildren play dress-up with the items from the box, grandpa begins to recapture his youthful memories. Grandpa is convinced to step under the spotlight with his tap shoes, top hat, and wooden cane. Stephen Gammell’s hand-drawn...more
"Song and Dance Man" is a book told by three grandchildren who are visiting their grandparents' house for dinner. They get a big surprise when their grandfather tells them how he was a song and dance man back in the days before television. The children get to witness the wonderful show of singing, dancing, magic acts, and jokes by their very own grandfather. This book is a perfect book to read to students of grades k-3. It would be a great pairing to an interview assignment where the students co...more
The illustrations within Song and Dance Man appeared as if a child drew them. They looked to be drawn in colored pencil and drawn in every which way. The strokes of the pencil are obvious and don’t go in a consistent stroke. It made me think the illustrator was trying to appeal to the young audience by drawing in a more childlike manner. The pictures were also random in size as the story went on. Some appeared small and only one per page to very large and took up almost two whole pages. However,...more
I love singing and dancing, so when I read this I loved it! It would be have been awesome to be a vaudeville performer like this grandpa. I'm sure he wishes that too. His grandchildren loved coming to see him because they would get to see him tap dance with his cane and top hat. They would also get to hear him sing. They would laugh at his jokes and cheer when he finished dancing. His grandchildren told him that they wished they could have seen him on an actual stage back in the day. He responde...more
The Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman is a fun story told by three grandchildren visiting their grandparents. "When we visit, he tells us about a time before people watched TV, back in the good old days, the song and dance days." The grandfather is very excited that his grandchildren are there to visit and takes them up to the attic. He gets out his old tap shoes and relives his glory days by dancing, singing, and telling jokes for them. The grandchildren love it and it's obvious that the gra...more
The story Song And Dance Man by Karen Ackerman was an easy going and fun one for kids. I enjoyed the illustrations throughout because they were so colorful and vibrant but had a touch to them that made them “not so perfect” but almost like a sketch. I loved the story though because it just goes to show that no matter how old you get, you can always continue doing what you love which is a great message to send to kids. Throughout the entire story it was very evident to me how much the grandfather...more
Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman, illustrated by Stephen Gammell is an affectionate, nostalgic, family- centered look at a grandfather who performs some old routines from his Vaudville days as a song and dance man for his grandchildren.
Ackerman's tender story captures that special bond between a grandparent and his grandchildren. Up in the attic, Grandfather pulls out his old bowler hat, tap shoes, a vest, bow tie, gold tipped cane, and top hat. As he glides, taps, and sings, the children c...more
Ackerman's tender story captures that special bond between a grandparent and his grandchildren. Up in the attic, Grandfather pulls out his old bowler hat, tap shoes, a vest, bow tie, gold tipped cane, and top hat. As he glides, taps, and sings, the children c...more
A trio of siblings show up at Grandpa’s house and he tells them about the good old days, when he was a song and dance man. Up in the attic he shines his tap shoes and sets up the lamps as spotlights and the show is on. Grandpa dances. He sings. He tells jokes and pulls coins from their ears. Grandpa says he wouldn’t “trade a million good old days for the days for the days he spends with us.” But as Grandpa looks wistfully up the stairs, his grandkids wonder just how much he misses his song and d...more
This story was a very enjoyable read. Ackerman tells the story, from a grandchild's point of view, about her grandfather that was a "song and dance man." The grandchild tells about the visits to her grandfathers house and how they would go up to the attic and he would put on a record and some shoes and sing and dance, like he used to in the "good old days." The child mentions at the end that they think their grandpa sometimes misses those days but enjoys the days with his grandchildren much more...more
The Song and Dance Man is a great read for young children. The way the pictures are illustrated brings a vibrant spirit to the book, and I think it would bring that same spirit into a classroom. Looking at the cover of the book, I was really intrigued as to what the story was going to be about. The book is about a grandfather who used to sing and dance back in the day. He brings his grandchildren up to his old treasure chest and all of a sudden starts singing and dancing. By looking at the illus...more
This cute account is about a grandfather sharing his passion for dancing with his grandchildren and his old dancing career. I really enjoyed reading this story. I think that the author did a great job of showing the grandfathers love for dance and demonstrating his love for his grandchildren. The book actually got me to think about my own grandparents and how I am sure they have a lot of really great stories from their childhood I would like to know more about. I think that if you read this to a...more
"Song and Dance Man" by Karen Ackerman was a story of a Grandfather spending an afternoon with his grandchildren. During this time, he takes them into the attic to show them that there was once a time when people had to rely on things other than television for entertainment. He opens a chest and begins to show them all of his old things and even performs for them. Unfortunately, this story bored me a little bit, and was not my favorite. I think kids might enjoy this, but the only thing that kept...more
I absolutely love this book!! I remember my dad reading me this book as a young child. I was excited to see it under the Caldecott Award books, I had no idea it was an award winning book. Song and Dance Man is fantastic in so many ways! It is a very sentimental and heartwarming story. Like most children today, it reveals that special relationship many children have with their grandparents. This is a fun book full of joy, happiness, laughter and love. All emotions that every child should experien...more
"Grandpa was a song and dance man who once danced on the vaudeville stage." This is the story of a day with grandma and grandpa and sharing the life of which grandpa once had. The grandchildren follow grandpa to the attic where the old tap shoes are kept for safe-keeping. Once dusted off, grandpa puts on a show for his grandchildren and awe's them with his talents.
This book is a really cute story because the grandchildren get to see how impressive their grandfather really is when it comes to pe...more
This book is a really cute story because the grandchildren get to see how impressive their grandfather really is when it comes to pe...more
Mar 21, 2012
Yzobelle
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
for-sharing-at-blink
The 5 stars are primarily to give credit to the moral of the story: that kids learn a lot and must never fail to appreciate the elders, especially their grandparents.
This is a simple story about an aging grandfather who reminisces his younger days of being a song and dance man – a performer of tap dancing to the tune of his own singing. One day he brings his children to his attic, takes out his costume from the chest and starts performing for the kids. Once he started, he got so entranced that...more
This is a simple story about an aging grandfather who reminisces his younger days of being a song and dance man – a performer of tap dancing to the tune of his own singing. One day he brings his children to his attic, takes out his costume from the chest and starts performing for the kids. Once he started, he got so entranced that...more
The Song and DAnce Man, written by Karen Ackerman is a lovely little tale of a Grandpa who puts on a show for his Grandchildren. The Grandpa's Grandchildren are extremely excited, when after sifting through an old treasure chest in the attic, the Grandpa finds his old tap shoes. The lights in the attic become spotlight's and the attic soon turns into a stage. He tells antics and tales about when he was young and when he used to dance at the Vaudeville stage. I absolutely love how the Grandfather...more
I think that children will really enjoy this book and find it funny because they could not picture there grandpa in the attic dancing around. This book is about a grandpa who used to tap dance to songs and perform when there wasn't and television of radio. One day the grandpa takes his grandchildren up to the attic and shows them what his life used to be like when he was a “song and dance man”. The grandfather takes the children up to the attic where he uncovers a whole trunk full of his old per...more
What a precious story this is of a stroll down old memory lane! The children come over for what they think will be like any other time they visited their grandpa...except this time is different! Instead of Grandpa just telling them of the good ole' days of sing and dance he takes them up to the attic and shows them his moves. This story opens up children's minds to thinking about how their grandparents once lived a life of their own! By just looking at the cover of the book, I want to squeeze an...more
This is a classic picture book about a grandpa who still remembers his glory days. Through simple colored pencil drawings, Stephen Gammell brings to life the childhood memories told by Karen Ackerman. The background images of the scenes are interesting since they are not defined by walls. Instead Gammell provides a mixture of colors to provide a background for the story. It keeps the focus on the characters while still providing a bright, happy setting for them to be in. Gammell also uses the sh...more
This is a fun book that talks about a man who enjoys dancing and talks to his grandchildren about it as they are going through his old things. The illustrations used in “Song and Dance Man” fit the words perfect. It almost seems as if the pictures were drawn with colored pencils. There are many vibrant colors used such as yellow, blue, and red in almost every page. The pictures used add more to the story. I think since there are a lot of words used in this picture book, there would have also bee...more
This book was very enjoyable to read. It showed the close relationship of the family members. I think it reminds people of good times with family, like how the grandpa was reminiscing about the dancing in the attic. The grandfather shares memories about when he was a song and dance man. I like how he is sharing important memories in his life with his family. I think the illustrations in the book were wonderful. They were bright and colorful and really made the book come alive. I think Karen Acke...more
The illustrations are very vibrant and bright. The background seems to be fading as the most important features in the illustrations seem to be the people and the things they are touching. The illustrations are important but the text seem to more dominant in this particular book. The pictures go along with the text very well, but are very vague yet interesting to look at. When the illustration when it is a close up of the grandpa you can see the emotions in his face and mouth.
This book is so swe...more
This book is so swe...more
This book shows the story of three children who are spending time with their grandpa when he takes them up to the attic to get his old dancing shoes, cane, and hat. He used to be a dancer, and he demonstrates all of his moves for his grandchildren. The story is very lighthearted and entertaining, and I enjoyed it a lot.
The artistry is very childlike and looks like crayons or colored pencil that are being used to color outside the lines. The childlike look of the illustrations ties in nicely wit...more
The artistry is very childlike and looks like crayons or colored pencil that are being used to color outside the lines. The childlike look of the illustrations ties in nicely wit...more
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