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Leap!
A flea asleep
in the deep green moss
nettled by midges
wakes up cross,
starts to fidget
and turn and toss.
Then his clever-legs twitch and he LEAPS into the path of a grasshopper. Which so startles the grasshopper that, she, in turn, LEAPS onto a bunny. And so it goes, dog, fish, bullfrog, horse and dog again, each leaping and upsetting the next. Until the dog finds herself in that same deep green moss. The flea sees his chance and leaps onto the dog. And, at last, they both fall asleep!
in the deep green moss
nettled by midges
wakes up cross,
starts to fidget
and turn and toss.
Then his clever-legs twitch and he LEAPS into the path of a grasshopper. Which so startles the grasshopper that, she, in turn, LEAPS onto a bunny. And so it goes, dog, fish, bullfrog, horse and dog again, each leaping and upsetting the next. Until the dog finds herself in that same deep green moss. The flea sees his chance and leaps onto the dog. And, at last, they both fall asleep!
32 pages, Hardcover
Published September 5, 2017
3 people are currently reading
397 people want to read
About the author
JonArno Lawson
26 books56 followersJonArno is the author of two books of poetry for adults, Love is an Observant Traveller and Inklings, as well as a contributor for The Chechens: A Handbook. The Man in the Moon-Fixer's Mask is his first book for children. He lives in Toronto, Canada, with his wife and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
May 10, 2018
Glorious art blends with perfectly cadenced verse that isn't afraid to use words not in the "Berenstain Bears" books, words that might have your child asking "what does that mean?', but they might not interrupt you because the word flow and art will involve them. I'd never use this at story time, but wish I could have shared it with my girls when they were younger.
September 30, 2017
With lyrical, rhyming text and beautifully rendered digital illustrations, we go on a journey leaping through the grass on the back of a flea. This poetic picture book takes a close-up look at our backyard creatures on a warm day. This would be great to share with young readers as a way of discussing cause-and-effect relationships and chain of events. Definitely a lovely book for any bookshelf.
January 23, 2018
Good vocabulary, beautiful "circle" story.
January 7, 2024
Cute, kinetic. A pleasant springboard to 2024.
August 21, 2017
LEAP!
Land!
Twist and spin!
The bunny bounds out as the clouds roll in.
A dog gets a whiff
and barks at the wind –
bouncing, bouncing, springing
and lunging!
Down the bank that dog goes
plunging.
In this book a flea starts off a chain reaction of animals leaping, twisting, gamboling and spinning across the countryside as each bumps into the next.
This is a colourful picture book with rhyming text. It would be ideal for exploring with a younger child who is willing to spend time exploring the details hidden in the pictures and have fun discussing the language used – you could try leaping and twisting and moving in all of the different ways described in the book as well as coming up with your own words.
LEAP!
Crash
into the lake,
scaring the lake fish
wide awake.
They break the surface with a
flip, flop, shake!
What I liked: Beautiful illustrations and rich language.
Even better if: There isn’t much story or characterisation so some children will be left completely cold by this. Those who like the illustrations or enjoy playing with language may like it, but I imagine it will not hold much re-read value for children who are expecting a story with a distinct beginning, middle and end or characters they can get invested in.
How you could use it in your classroom: You could use this to introduce various words used to describe movement and have the children come up with their own movements and descriptive words in order to avoid all the characters in their stories simply standing, sitting and lying down. The pictures could also be used to make predictions about who will be affected next in the story, while the illustrations could serve as prompts for units about the Natural World.
(Thank you to Netgalley and Kids Can Press for my review copy)
Land!
Twist and spin!
The bunny bounds out as the clouds roll in.
A dog gets a whiff
and barks at the wind –
bouncing, bouncing, springing
and lunging!
Down the bank that dog goes
plunging.
In this book a flea starts off a chain reaction of animals leaping, twisting, gamboling and spinning across the countryside as each bumps into the next.
This is a colourful picture book with rhyming text. It would be ideal for exploring with a younger child who is willing to spend time exploring the details hidden in the pictures and have fun discussing the language used – you could try leaping and twisting and moving in all of the different ways described in the book as well as coming up with your own words.
LEAP!
Crash
into the lake,
scaring the lake fish
wide awake.
They break the surface with a
flip, flop, shake!
What I liked: Beautiful illustrations and rich language.
Even better if: There isn’t much story or characterisation so some children will be left completely cold by this. Those who like the illustrations or enjoy playing with language may like it, but I imagine it will not hold much re-read value for children who are expecting a story with a distinct beginning, middle and end or characters they can get invested in.
How you could use it in your classroom: You could use this to introduce various words used to describe movement and have the children come up with their own movements and descriptive words in order to avoid all the characters in their stories simply standing, sitting and lying down. The pictures could also be used to make predictions about who will be affected next in the story, while the illustrations could serve as prompts for units about the Natural World.
(Thank you to Netgalley and Kids Can Press for my review copy)
August 22, 2017
A leaping flea sets off a chain of leaping animals.
The rhythm and rhyme of this is well done, making it a book excellent for reading aloud. I especially liked the illustration style. It was the right mix of beautiful and humorous. Kids are sure to laugh (especially at the horse). There’s a certain amount of repetition making this a good book for practicing making predictions (though watch out, there’s a twist!) or for little ones who want to “read” along. It should also help build vocabulary as there’s some rich words employed along the way. Read it with The Flea’s Sneeze for a compare/contrast activity. I’ll be putting this on the list of books to possibly get for our elementary library.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The rhythm and rhyme of this is well done, making it a book excellent for reading aloud. I especially liked the illustration style. It was the right mix of beautiful and humorous. Kids are sure to laugh (especially at the horse). There’s a certain amount of repetition making this a good book for practicing making predictions (though watch out, there’s a twist!) or for little ones who want to “read” along. It should also help build vocabulary as there’s some rich words employed along the way. Read it with The Flea’s Sneeze for a compare/contrast activity. I’ll be putting this on the list of books to possibly get for our elementary library.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 14, 2017
Well done rhyming book with well done repetitions and rhymes. I enjoyed the illustration style, and can definitely see using this for Creek Week storytime at some point in the future.
June 22, 2017
Review:
Leap! by JonArno Lawson, is a whimsically illustrated fun ready. I love the flow of the wording and the creativity of the rymes. The story flowing in a fun and energetic way that encourages lots of participation, or can also be good for a one on one discussion. I read through the book 2 times because it was just a fun chain of events story with energy and an overall good feel.
Great for kids who like animal stories with colorful and whimsical illustrations. I received this copy for the purpose of providing an honest review.
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Leap! by JonArno Lawson, Josée Bisaillon (Illustrations)
A flea asleep
in the deep green moss
nettled by midges
wakes up cross,
starts to fidget
and turn and toss.
Then his clever-legs twitch and he LEAPS into the path of a grasshopper. Which so startles the grasshopper that, she, in turn, LEAPS onto a bunny. And so it goes, dog, fish, bullfrog, horse and dog again, each leaping and upsetting the next. Until the dog finds herself in that same deep green moss. The flea sees his chance and leaps onto the dog. And, at last, they both fall asleep! (less)
Leap! by JonArno Lawson, is a whimsically illustrated fun ready. I love the flow of the wording and the creativity of the rymes. The story flowing in a fun and energetic way that encourages lots of participation, or can also be good for a one on one discussion. I read through the book 2 times because it was just a fun chain of events story with energy and an overall good feel.
Great for kids who like animal stories with colorful and whimsical illustrations. I received this copy for the purpose of providing an honest review.
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Leap! by JonArno Lawson, Josée Bisaillon (Illustrations)
A flea asleep
in the deep green moss
nettled by midges
wakes up cross,
starts to fidget
and turn and toss.
Then his clever-legs twitch and he LEAPS into the path of a grasshopper. Which so startles the grasshopper that, she, in turn, LEAPS onto a bunny. And so it goes, dog, fish, bullfrog, horse and dog again, each leaping and upsetting the next. Until the dog finds herself in that same deep green moss. The flea sees his chance and leaps onto the dog. And, at last, they both fall asleep! (less)
June 6, 2017
This fun circular story will put a smile on your face as you read it.
"A flea asleep/in the deep green moss/ nettled by midges/ wakes up cross, he starts to fidget/ and turn and toss. Lever-legs twitch to...
LEAP!
Let the leaping begin. It's like a game of leapfrog or tag - the flea to the grasshopper, over to the bunny, next on to the dog, then into the lake startling the fish, frog's turn now, up next is horse and you guessed it.... finally to home base.... back to dog again. Exhausted and together one more time dog and flea curl up and fall fast asleep. What a workout! Oh my!!
Written in rhyme and using wonderful, playful, motion words like glide, land, springing, bouncing, lunging, crash, flip, shake, slap, flash, and scramble just to cite a few, the reader is truly involved in the chase. The vocabulary is rich and the illustrations give visuals that make the words powerful. Kids will giggle and get involved in the story and may even try some of those moves themselves. All-in-all it is a book you will enjoy leaps... oops, I mean heaps!
"A flea asleep/in the deep green moss/ nettled by midges/ wakes up cross, he starts to fidget/ and turn and toss. Lever-legs twitch to...
LEAP!
Let the leaping begin. It's like a game of leapfrog or tag - the flea to the grasshopper, over to the bunny, next on to the dog, then into the lake startling the fish, frog's turn now, up next is horse and you guessed it.... finally to home base.... back to dog again. Exhausted and together one more time dog and flea curl up and fall fast asleep. What a workout! Oh my!!
Written in rhyme and using wonderful, playful, motion words like glide, land, springing, bouncing, lunging, crash, flip, shake, slap, flash, and scramble just to cite a few, the reader is truly involved in the chase. The vocabulary is rich and the illustrations give visuals that make the words powerful. Kids will giggle and get involved in the story and may even try some of those moves themselves. All-in-all it is a book you will enjoy leaps... oops, I mean heaps!
December 10, 2017
Lawson, JonArno Leap, PICTURE BOOK. Kids Can Press, 2017. $17.
Starting with a flea, readers follow one leaping and jumping creature after another through the pages of this book. The story reads like free verse poetry. Readers meet a grasshopper, a rabbit, a frog, a horse, and more. Simple green washed illustrations on large pages accompany.
I felt that this book was overall just kind of odd. The illustrations were kind of drab, even the pages that were supposed to be bright, like one featuring a bunny. The verse rhymed at times and was stilted at others. In order to accomplish whatever poetry they were going for, some word choices were use that would not resonate with young readers, like Gambol and nettled. The ending was kind of odd too, I thought the dog might have leapt and was falling in the air.
EL(K-3) –NO. Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017...
Starting with a flea, readers follow one leaping and jumping creature after another through the pages of this book. The story reads like free verse poetry. Readers meet a grasshopper, a rabbit, a frog, a horse, and more. Simple green washed illustrations on large pages accompany.
I felt that this book was overall just kind of odd. The illustrations were kind of drab, even the pages that were supposed to be bright, like one featuring a bunny. The verse rhymed at times and was stilted at others. In order to accomplish whatever poetry they were going for, some word choices were use that would not resonate with young readers, like Gambol and nettled. The ending was kind of odd too, I thought the dog might have leapt and was falling in the air.
EL(K-3) –NO. Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017...
June 9, 2017
Leap is a wonderful book all told in rhyme. It takes place on a farm the reader is introduced to various animals leaping. It all begins when a flea is bothered by midges and it sets off a chain reaction of leaping animals. After all the leaping, it ends with the flea once again, this time having a sleep. It is a fun, delightful book. It is beautifully illustrated in muted tones showing expression and action. The vocabulary is a bit difficult for little ones, so I would recommend this for children age 5 and up. Could be used as a mentor text for middle grade students showing reactions, inferencing and predicting as well as showing how rhyme or poetry can tell a story. A good book for school libraries. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.
July 19, 2017
A cute circular book for kids which follows animals as they "Leap" from one page to the next and onto another animal. This animal then leaps to the following page and this continues until we end up back with the first animal again.
Some of the rhyming seemed forced, with words the target age group of 5-7 are not likely to understand (haunches tauten, gambol, trudgening), but the pictures are colorful and provide plenty of detail for them to fill in those blanks.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First-Reads.
Some of the rhyming seemed forced, with words the target age group of 5-7 are not likely to understand (haunches tauten, gambol, trudgening), but the pictures are colorful and provide plenty of detail for them to fill in those blanks.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First-Reads.
November 6, 2017
It all starts with midges moving, a flea awakes grumpy, then twitchy, hops onto a grasshopper, who hops (no, leaps) onto a rabbit, who jumps (no, leaps) and a dog sees it, then. . . The rhyme is one that's hard to stop reading and begs to be read aloud, and the illustrations are as you imagine, full of motion as we go from scene to scene. Wait till you discover the end! The poetry is great and leaps along with the creatures while the bold illustrations show excitement on every page.
December 26, 2017
A little flea wakes up cross and leaps into the air, scaring a grasshopper who leaps atop a bunny's head. The bunny leaps awaking the dog who leaps and lands in the pond, scaring the fish who leaps out of the water disturbing a frog. The frog leaps up scaring a high strung horse who leaps and runs into the field. The dog sensing a chase runs after the horse and finally lays down for a nap, when the flea leaps on his back and goes to sleep.
May 30, 2017
This is an adorable read where the leaping chain reaction all begins with a little flea bothered by midges. His initial leap sets off a flurry of activity through the meadow and around the pond. The colorful illustrations and rhyming scheme are enchanting.
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
June 2, 2017
I received an electronic copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.
Leap takes place on a farm. A flea bothered my midges sets off a chain reaction of leaping animals. It is fun, delightful and beautifully illustrated. Very enjoyable and it ends in sleep which is always good in books for young children.
Leap takes place on a farm. A flea bothered my midges sets off a chain reaction of leaping animals. It is fun, delightful and beautifully illustrated. Very enjoyable and it ends in sleep which is always good in books for young children.
June 2, 2017
A rhyming book that would be lots of fun at story time. It’s a chain reaction story where one flea’s leap causes the next animals leap, and the nest, so on and so forth. The rhymes do lose their cadence in some places, but not so much as to be disturbing. Overall, a joy to read with amazing illustrations.
June 8, 2017
This clever book with a circular storyline is filled with beautiful vocabulary to inspire delightful discussions during read alouds and beautiful launch points for writing lessons. The illustrations are stunning and a delight in their own right.
I can't wait to share this with a child!
This book offered as a digitial ARC trhough NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review.
I can't wait to share this with a child!
This book offered as a digitial ARC trhough NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review.
July 30, 2017
Brainstorm a list of animals that can leap, and let your audience do some leaping before settling down to listen.
Colorful mixed media artwork leaps across double page spreads, single, or multiple small images with a balance of white space. Text is in short phrases - poetical with mostly rhyming. The rhythm is broken at the end, but it works to contrast the action with quiet.
Colorful mixed media artwork leaps across double page spreads, single, or multiple small images with a balance of white space. Text is in short phrases - poetical with mostly rhyming. The rhythm is broken at the end, but it works to contrast the action with quiet.
October 17, 2017
This is an adorable story. I was little put off by the rhyme scheme, in fact, I needed to reread a few times just to find the correct flow. If you are reading this aloud for the first time, be prepared for lots of interruptions and explanations. There appears to be no distinct, middle, or end, but the illustrations do hold up nicely and serve to help move the story ahead.
November 8, 2017
The beautiful, mixed -media illustrations add a whimsical, almost dreamlike quality to this lyrical cause and effect story of nature that actually becomes a circle story. While the book as a whole is entertaining, the language is clunky in spots, and the font is extremely tiny for young readers or those trying to read it aloud to children. I recommend this title as an additional purchase only.
August 10, 2019
Leap is the rhyming story of how a flea gets onto a dog. In the very beginning it takes a leap which begins a chain reaction of animals leaping. The concept is genius but the delivery is clunky. Not recommended for storytime reading as the rhythm doesn't work really well and would make for stilted reading.
Beautiful watercolor illustrations.
Beautiful watercolor illustrations.
January 29, 2024
A cute little picture-book about leaping. Each animal leaps to something or onto someone else. The poetry uses some difficult words for young children and the illustrations are basic, in perfect accordance with the text. It lacks of a little weird or funny touch that will bring children to love this book.
May 6, 2024
Cute picture book. Full of animals leaping, each triggering the next one to leap as well. I imagine kids will enjoy shouting "leap" as the pages turn. and they get a humorous glimpse at how animals in nature affect each other. some of the vocabulary seems a bit advanced for kids, so probably best read by adults to children instead of solo reading.
August 28, 2017
This story of a frog leaping is told in a fun rhyme which invites you to read aloud for full effect. Gorgeous illustrations fill the pages as each leap takes him to a different animal's habitat. As the story continues each animal then has a unique leap of his own.
September 16, 2017
Follow along as a flea then a grasshopper, then a bunny and so on all leap in their habitats. The story is rhythmic and would make a great read-aloud. The author uses vocabulary that would need some extra discussion for elementary students.
September 22, 2017
LEAP! is an adorable rhyming early reader story about animals that leap and jump. Bold illustrations accompany the easy-to-read text - can't wait to read along with my little one! I received a copy of this book for free in a Goodreads Giveaway.
November 19, 2017
Perfect for a summer's day, this loosely rhyming story of animals joining in to play leapfrog is sure to get the kiddos hopping over each other quickly. The mixed media illustrations by Josee Bisaillon are cheery and colorful, as full of joy and liveliness as the text.
January 2, 2018
I loved this book! I'd love to find out if this is a specific form of verse or more free verse. It's certainly irregular. The illustrations are amazing (I love the fish!) and I love how the story drags the reader from page to page as the text extends beyond each two-page spread.
May 20, 2018
A flea gets pestered by midges and leaps away. This starts a chain reaction throughout the field around the pond until it circles back to the flea leaping on the dog.
Font may be difficult for young readers to read.
Font may be difficult for young readers to read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews