Book Description
for Rap a Tap Tap by Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
A tribute to the great tap dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson skillfully uses repetition and toe-tapping rhythm to involve young listeners in the narrative. Each simple, staccato line of text reveals something about Robinson, who danced for rich and poor, Black and white, at a time when an African American entertainer faced many restrictions. The author/artists artfully capture energetic movement in the illustrations, while phrasing the words so that the social issues referenced make sense on both a literal and a metaphorical level (e.g, “He danced past doors; some were open, some closed.”). “Rap a tap tap—think of that!” (Ages 4-7)
CCBC Choices 2003 . © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2003. Used with permission.