| Country life -- Juvenile fiction. |
| Night -- Juvenile fiction. |
| Dance -- Juvenile fiction. |
| Stories in rhyme -- Juvenile fiction. |
| Fiction. |
Available:*
Audience | Shelf Location | Material Type | Shelf Number | Current Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kids/Juvenile | Picture books | Book | E MAR | Searching... Unknown |
| Kids/Juvenile | Picture books | Book | E MAR | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
In an old farmhouse, bathed in the light of a full moon, a young boy creeps to his bedroom window and looks outside. Was that a voice he just heard, or the hooting of an owl? There it is again:
Come a little closer...
Come a little closer...
Listen to the night...
There's music in the air...
Beckoned by the voice, the boy sneaks downstairs, out the door, and walks toward the barn. As he gets closer he hears the sweet sound of a country fiddler and the rhythmic thumping of dancing feet. But who could possibly be having a barn dance in the middle of the night?
Author Notes
Children's writer Bill Martin, Jr. was born and raised in Hiawatha, Kansas. Ironically, the future early childhood educator had difficulty reading until he taught himself, before graduating with a teaching certificate from Emporia State University.
After graduation, he taught high school drama and journalism in Kansas. He served in the Army Air Force as a newspaper editor during World War II. He wrote his first book, The Little Squeegy Bug, for his brother, Bernard, an artist, to illustrate while recuperating from war wounds. It was published in 1945 and the brothers would go on to collaborate on 10 more books by 1955.
He earned a master's degree and doctorate in early childhood education from Northwestern University and became principal of an elementary school in Evanston, Ill., where he developed innovative reading programs. In 1962 Martin moved to New York City to become editor of the school division of Holt, Rhinehart and Winston where he developed the literature-based reading programs Sounds of Language and The Instant Readers.
Martin returned to full-time writing in 1972 and ended up writing over three hundred children's books during his career. His titles include; Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear?, The Ghost-Eye Tree, Barn Dance, and Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom. He died on August 11, 2004 at the age of 88.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3 With a rhythmic cadence Martin and Archambault build their story from a quiet moonlit night when ``there's magic in the air'' to a very special foot stompin' party and back again. On this eerie night everyone is asleep except for the ``skinny kid with questions in his head.'' With him readers sneak out to the barn and hide just in time to see all the farm animals kick up their heels to the scarecrow's fiddle music. While the words are a delight to hear (albeit it's a bit hard to get the tongue around on some lines), Rand's pictures make the story come alive. The two-page spreads range from the barn standing ghost-like in the full moonlight to the colorful interior of the barn, where the figures seem to be in perpetual motion. An engaging blend of words and pictures to set both the mind and eye dancing. Judith Gloyer, Milwaukee Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
An ordinary evening becomes a festival of foot-stompin' good fun when neighbors gather at a barn dance. A Reading Rainbow selection. Ages 5-8. (March) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Under the light of a full moon a skinny kid creeps from his bedroom to join a fiddling scarecrow and the farm animals in a merry barn dance. Evocative watercolors add to the spirit.