The More the Merrier (Hardcover)
Stepping high,
galumphing low,
leaping fast,
wiggling slow.
“I like your moves. But I’m not like you. So I’ll just do what I can do.” Some like to kick their feet and bend their knees to the music. Others prefer to slip and slide . . . or swoop down . . . or skip high and low! Whatever their style, children will be drawn by David Martin’s buoyant rhymes and Raissa Figueroa’s vibrant illustrations as Bear, Moose, Snake, and other forest animals dance to their own groove in a rhythmic celebration of individuality.
Raissa Figueroa is the illustrator of several books, including the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book We Wait for the Sun, written by Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe. She enjoys hiking, trying out restaurants, and binge-watching new series. She lives in California.
—School Library Journal (starred review)
The infectious beat of the rhyming text and repetition of phrases like, “I’m not like you, / So I’ll just do what I can do,” sets up an energetic, predictable pattern ideal for reading aloud. Set against a bucolic, impressionistic woodland background, the loosely rendered, amusing, dynamic illustrations echo this pattern as the creatures (despite the seeming limitations of their various physiques) perform signature interpretive dances with inspired, fluid, free-spirited abandon across double-page spreads until they all collapse in a merry heap. Joyous, upbeat, toe-tapping, hip-swinging, high-stepping fun.
—Kirkus Reviews