Follow the Leader

by Erica Silverman

Follow me walking.

Hop when I hop.

Skip when I'm skipping.

Stop when I stop.

Follow the leader is fun! Who doesn't love to hop and skip and trot and squat and leap behind the leader? Who doesn't love to be the leader? Welcome to Erica Silverman's clever game. As one child follows another and longs for a turn to lead, readers will share all the joy of their exuberant play -- and its occasional frustration, too. G. Brian Karas's bold, brilliant pictures feature endearing boys who make the game truly enchanting.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Family

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Kelly Whelchel]

Fiction

Use in Pre-k in teaching different ways to move, flop, hop, run, skip, jump...

Take the students outside and read the book. Then after have one student be the leader and have the class follow what he/she is doing. Will help with movement skills.

[Jordan Krasniewicz]

"Follow the Leader" by Erica Silverman is about two brothers, one older and one younger, who play follow the leader. The older brother takes charge and leads his brother up and down, having him skip and trot and squat, and follow him in their pajamas all around the house and outside. The little brother willingly follows the brother around, copying the brothers movements. At one point however, the little brother stops following his older brother around, and the older brother must decide whether or not to start following his younger brother as the "leader".
The theme of this book stresses the importance of sharing and taking turns during games, equalizing opportunities no matter the age.
I personally thought this book was a witty way to show two brothers playing follow the leader with one another, and how even younger brothers can be leaders too. The illustrations in this book allowed me as a reader to really connect to the characters, and see each action the brothers did together in more detail.
I would recommend this book to kindergarten, as I see it as a great resource to show the value of taking turns, which I feel is a major lesson that is learned as children enter into elementary school. It clearly shows that no matter how old or how in charge someone is, everyone deserves a turn to be a leader, and can be a leader.

[Casandria]

Big brothers can be bossy sometimes. This one eventually had to give his little bro a turn being leader.

[Cheryl]

Movement skills, imagination, taking turns being leader, ok. But the game itself, awful... nobody should just do what a self-proclaimed leader does or says to do!!

[Daniel]

This is another of those books that I enjoy reading to my children but really have little to no lasting value. My boys enjoy Karas' art, and the story, quite simple, is moderately attractive to two boys since it features two boys.

The rhyme scheme is just annoying. Every children's book conference I've ever attended (and I've been to a dozen or so), every editor and publisher says to stay away from rhyming books. So why do they publish them?

The rhyming doesn't work well and only gets in the way.

[Matthew]

The older brother gets to be the leader while his younger brother must follow. Of course, this is unfair and the younger brother must eventually stand up to this injustice, which he does. The older brother grants his request and all is well that ends well. Honestly, this is a very simple book about fairness and sharing control. The older brother learns a lesson about not being bossy, however small the lesson is. A nice book.

[Natalie Haskins]

Who doesn't love follow the leader? The kids will jump into the playfulness that these characters share together, as well as the frustrations. It would be a great book to demonstrate what it takes to be a leader and the challenges that come along with that when there is not good communication. This would also be a great tool to use during a brain break.

[Jenny]

I really liked this book since it reminded me of the interaction between my 2 boys and I can only imagine a day in the near future when my older will turn to the younger and realize he should let him be in charge once in a while. I thought the drawings were cute, as well.

[Stephanie]

My kids love doing all the actions in the book.

[Cassie Taylor]

Good beginning poetry, good moral about being the leader. Possibility for my early elementary classroom.

[Amanda Schwind]

Rhyming book that could be used to introduce a fun game of follow the leader.

[Susan Eubank]

Good rhyming follow the leader book, but not enough nature for the Arboretum storytime.