Tap Tap Boom Boom

'Tap Tap Boom Boom' offers a smaller, anecdotal slice of New York life... quotidian but magical, the kind of interruption in routine that might loom large in a small child's eyes and is rendered evocatively here. G. Brian Karas's illustrations, which combine drawings and photographs, capture the crazy yellow light of a summer storm while the onomatopoetic title, used as a refrain in the text, renders the sound of big, juicy raindrops splattering on concrete as thunder cracks overhead.

In toe-tapping, jazz-chant verse, author, bookseller, and PW blogger Bluemle writes about the way a sudden thunderstorm “makes friends/ of strangers.” ... Bluemle’s story unfolds on a scale just right for preschoolers, with plenty of hullaballoo, subtle attention to the senses, and an affirmation of the way misfortune can lead to small miracles.

Bluemle employs bouncy, fast-paced rhymes and rhythms with words that emphasize sound and movement. ... The text, appropriately varied in size and boldness to match the storm’s activity, moves across mostly double-paged spreads and intermingles with the illustrations. Karas ... sets gouache and pencil drawings within collages of photographs of New York City. ... The ethnically diverse characters are animated as they head for the subway stairs, and there are delightful details to elicit giggles from young readers. Cuddle up for a rainy-day adventure.

Children will enjoy following the various characters as they put up umbrellas, splash through puddles, and run for cover down the subway stairs... Karas’ colorful, detailed, and lively pictures—created using photographs, gouache, and pencil—are the perfect vehicle for Bluemle’s succinct, catchy rhymes that energetically describe a sudden rainstorm in the city.

Karas’s winsome, multicultural caricatures inhabit a neighborhood that appears lifelike due to his use of photographs for buildings and subway details. As children and adults dash between the showers and thunderbolts to the safety of the underground station, Bluemle’s taut, clever verse propels the plot: “Feet wetter?/You’d better/go down/underground,/where the water/can’t getcha./You betcha.” ... This upbeat rendition of a common experience will have universal appeal. Don’t wait for a rainy day to share the fun.

The sonorous language of Bluemle’s rhythmic text makes it a pleasure to read aloud... Karas’ illustrations—a mixture of photographs, gouache, and pencil—are as expressive and detailed as always, and the combination of media expertly captures both the energy of a big city and the quietness of a pause in the commotion.