Over in the Pink House

by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Boyds Mills Press publishes a wide range of high-quality fiction and nonfiction picture books, chapter books, novels, and nonfiction

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Rebecca is a poet and picture book author of such titles as What is Science? (a 2006 Subaru SB&F prize finalist), and Lemonade Sun (an American Booksellers "Pick of the Lists"). Her work is featured widely in poetry anthologies and textbooks. Rebecca promotes children's poetry, giving presentations and workshops to students, teachers, librarians and writers. She lives in Indiana.

Reviews

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this transported me right back to elementary school. I loved jumping rope and new every rhyme there was to sing. In this book there are a variety of rhymes--long ones, short ones, silly ones, simple ones, etc. Many of them provide instructions for more intricate jumping routines (spinning around, trading places with people, etc.), some have room for individual interpretations, and others are just simple songs to sing while jumping. I don't know how to articulate the way a jump rope rhyme sounds--there is definitely a certain feel to them that is more than simply rhythm and such--and many of these feel so naturally like jump rope rhymes I could believe I just missed learning them in my childhood instead of them being brand new creations.

Anyone want to get some ropes and jump with me?

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has some really good illustrations, and I especially like the little flip-book corner of a girl jumping rope on the bottom of the right-hand pages.

The rhymes are clever and sweet - none of the awful stuff kids make up on their own (seriously, the girls on my block ask "Where am I gonna get married at? House, church, toilet bowl!" for their favorite jumprope rhyme!) - and they do have that jump-rope rhythm.

But a lot of them are a little long. YOU know how rhymes go. They're short and easy to remember, or they consist of a lot of "floaters", rhymes that appear in nearly every kid's rhyme you can find. These tend to be a bit long, so we'll see what we see.

I'm also a little irritated that, like many rhymes and poems written to *read* to children, a lot of these are forcibly nostalgic. They include candles and candelabras, but no flashlights, for example. What's the point?

[Gina Saenz]

Category: Choice
Source: Free Choice

I chose the book Over in the Pink House, by Rebecca Kai Dotlich (2004) to read because of the picture on the cover. The illustration is of a girl skipping rope. The book is full of jump roping rhymes that I’ve never heard of before. I like this book because it brought back memories of my rope skipping days many, many years ago. The illustrations in the book are fantasy-like and whimsical. The best illustration in the book is the photo in the bottom corner of the. If you flipped through just the corner of the pages quickly it looks like the girl is actually jumping rope! Very cool!
A lesson that could be used is a class discussion on our favorite things to do or our favorite past times.

[Ruth Mika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can just see my children doing these rhymes on the playground. They are simple and sweet and easy for the children to remember. There are several like "Over in the pink house" that the younger children can remember easily. As the book goes on, they get longer with more difficult words to say fast. "Jump rope jack and jelly fish" is very difficult and I think would be suitable for second grade. Beautiful illustrations in pastels help this book develop a sing song quality needed to jump.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my first check out from the Erie Public Library on bus layover. I had high hopes for it, but all that came out was a letter to Jordana containing this one:

Over in the Pink House
Over in the park
There's a gang of kittens
Meowing in the dark
One's named butter
One's named lump,
One's named sugar
Jump
Jump
Jump

[Paul Hankins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rebecca Kai Dotlich is a Hoosier treasure, friends. Please do not miss her poetry collections as you introduce this genre to your younger readers. Here, Dotlich explores the rhythms and rhymes of the classic jumping songs and chants to create new pieces that would be more than welcome at recess time.

[Brandy Gilbertson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is full of different jump rope rhymes; however, I am not convinced I would use many of them with children. I think there are far better jump rope rhymes in existence but it would be nice to have around for children who may be looking for something different. The illustrations are rather odd too.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It reminded me of my jump roping days and the things we used to sing and say.

I especially loved the illustrations. Every picture looked different and every picture looked like she did a different style of art!

One of my favorite poems was, Lily, Lily.