Dig!

I was telling a mom at the library the other day about Mayareads, and she gave me just about the best review you can give to a book. Her son doesn't sit still often to read books, but he will for Dig!, by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha and illustrated by Marc Rosenthal. In fact he chants the refrain often as they go about their days.

So I picked up a copy, and I can see why. Dig! has such a nice structure with tons of repetition. Mr. Rally and his dog, Lightning, have a backhoe. Mr. Rally has five jobs this day, digging a hole for the pool at the school, clearing a landslide near the ocean, etc.

At each job Mr. Rally sings, "Dig up rock and dig up clay! Dig up dirt and dig all day!" At the end of the day Mr. Rally puts the backhoe away, but he and Lightning still have some digging to do in the garden (including of course the burying of bones).

With five parts, the text is a little long, but your kindergarten-or-so-aged children will love it. After you're done reading, go out and do a little gardening, singing a merry little tune.