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Hope you are all enjoying your weekend and have a little time left to read the August Read & Romp Roundup, which is tiny but tantalizing this time around. Thanks to all who contributed. I really do love hearing all the ways you use picture book and poetry to get the little ones in your life moving...


Catherine at Story Snug reviews the picture book Doing the Animal Bop by Jan Ormerod and Lindsey Gardiner. The book is full of animals, bold and colorful illustrations, and -- as you might expect -- dance moves. According to Catherine, "the rhyming text flows beautifully and is very easy to read. However, to get the full Animal Bop experience, the accompanying CD is a must!"


At Omazing Kids, Angela shares one of her favorite picture books to help kids learn about feelings -- My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. In her post, Angela offers a supply list for a wonderful yoga class that incorporates music, arts and crafts, scarves for movement activities, and yoga poses for each animal in the book. Her ideas could also work in dance class, a library story time, or at home, so take a look!

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the roundup in March. I think this is our largest one yet! Once again we have a great mix of dance, yoga, and general movement submissions...plus a poem! There's a little something for everyone, so I hope you enjoy hopping around to read the different posts.


At Playing by the Book, Zoe has embraced the color pink and made the wordless picture book Flora and the Flamingo a family affair! Read her post to learn more about this new book by Molly Idle. You can also see how Zoe and her two daughters celebrated its dance-related story of friendship and found some creative activities to go along with the book.

Early childhood dance educator Becca Beck shares the poem "The Goldilocks Song," which is perfect for incorporating into creative movement and pre-ballet classes...or for enjoying at home! Hear how she uses it to explore the concept of making shapes bigger and smaller with her students.

Gail at Yoga Kiddos with Gailee tells us how she uses the picture book Z is for Moose, by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinksi, in her yoga classes for kids. The funny alphabet book, which involves a fame-hungry moose who will do anything to be included in the book, lends itself well to acting out yoga animal poses.
Amy from Picture-Book-a-Day is back with a review of Ellen Stoll Walsh's Hop Jump. Read her post to learn more about this picture book about a frog who gets bored of hopping and jumping and decides to add dance to her repertoire. As usual, Amy is also full of creative ideas to go along with the book, including making origami hopping frogs!

At OMazing Kids, Angela shares a Dr. Seuss alphabet extravaganza for kid's yoga and early literacy. Her post is packed full of yoga, literacy, music, art, prop, and game ideas to go along with book Dr. Seuss's ABC. Because Angela is a huge fan of Dr. Seuss, she also includes links to other posts that combine his books with yoga.

In a second post at OMazing Kids, Angela uses the classic Eric Carle book The Very Hungry Caterpillar to celebrate the start of spring. Her full lesson plan -- including yoga poses, a music playlist, and a mindfulness activity with real fruit -- are all included!

Reshama from Stacking Books reviews the picture book Goal! by Mina Javaherbin and A.G. Ford. With kicking, dribbling, and running, this book is full of movement! Set in South Africa, the book is also a good introduction to a different culture and to the concept of bullying.

The new dance, craft, and storybook Crafterina has a blog! This post provides an introduction to Crafterina and provides guidance on how to best take advantage of all aspects of the book. You can also learn more at www.crafterina.com.

At ABCs of Reading, Jayne uses the picture book Cindy Moo by Lori Mortensen and Jack Mack to teach the comprehension strategy of questioning and to get kids "moo-ving." Inspired by the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle," Cindy Moo sets out to show her friends that cows really can jump over the moon. Read Jayne's post for her movement ideas!

Author and dance educator Connie Bergstein Dow contributes to the blog PreK + K Sharing, where she has created a carrot seed dance story based on the classic book The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss and Crockett Johnson. Learn more about Connie, who regularly uses movement as a learning tool, at movingislearning.com.

It's that time again. Time to pull together all the great blog posts that were submitted for last month's Read & Romp Roundup. Thanks so much to everyone who contributed. I think we have another really great roundup!

Maria from Maria's Movers introduces readers to Prima the Ballerina in Her Backyard -- an interactive book by professional dancers Nikki and Ethan White. The book can be used as a lesson plan for teaching movement to children and is the first in a planned series!


At Flowering Minds, Darshana reviews Yawning Yoga, written by children's yoga specialist Laurie Jordan with illustrations by Aaron Randy. Full of yoga poses to release energy and relaxation exercises to calm the mind, this book can help young children slow down for bed!


Angela at OMazing Kids shares one of her new favorite ABC books to incorporate into yoga classes for kids. ABC Menagerie contains an animal and rhyme for each letter of the alphabet, plus what Angela describes as "quirky felt animal structures" as illustrations. A great book to accompany animal poses!


The second book Amy reviews is This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt and R.G. Roth. Written to the tune of the classic children's song "This Old Man," the book celebrates the lives and music of 10 jazz legends. One of those legends -- who made music with his feet! -- is tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. In her post, Amy also recommends some activities and other books to go along with this fun and jazzy book!


Deanna at Little Namaste Yoga posts about All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee. In one of her favorite lessons to teach, Deanna uses the book to find new "places" for her students to explore. As the scenes in the book change, Deanna uses yoga, songs, and other sensory activities to enhance the experiences of her young students.