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"This is the lass / with hair like a nest / who walked in her sleep / on the morn of Mayfest." So begins the playful cumulative rhyme that propels this jaunty picture book to its celebratory conclusion--a spontaneous Mayfest parade! The dove flies after the lass (with hair like a nest), a huntsman fixes on the dove, a mouse frightens the huntsman, a cat chases the mouse... and so on. As the chain ... More

"This is the lass / with hair like a nest / who walked in her sleep / on the morn of Mayfest." So begins the playful cumulative rhyme that propels this jaunty picture book to its celebratory conclusion--a spontaneous Mayfest parade! The dove flies after the lass (with hair like a nest), a huntsman fixes on the dove, a mouse frightens the huntsman, a cat chases the mouse... and so on. As the chain of events grows increasingly chaotic, so do Marla Frazee's splendid, detail-rich illustrations. At one point, with children and monkeys and jugglers and laundresses and sheepdogs and cats and mice, the page virtually explodes with life and color. At last, the sleepwalking lass awakes to announce that she is the Queen of May and invites the crowd to dance, frolic, play, make merry, and jest. From "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" to "The House that Jack Built," children revel in the rhythm and repetition of cumulative rhymes, and Frazee's wonderful illustrations make Erica Silverman's silly, snowballing story fun and easy to follow. On the Morn of Mayfest is best read aloud, as kids will love tracking the girl and the dove through their madcap May Day romp. (Ages 5 and older) --Karin Snelson

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