It’s definitely time to sing and dance today…because it’s a happy belated book birthday for PIGS DANCING JIBS by author Maxine Rose Schur, illustrated by Robin Dewitt and Patricia Grush-Dewitt.

All the animals from A to Z
Are just as busy as they can be
If you want to see all they do
Then this book is just for you

Here’s an alphabet book to delight young and old with animals as familiar to children as the cow and duck, and as unfamiliar as the impala and the zorilla. Rhyming words coupled with beautiful, detailed illustrations enhance the learning of the alphabet while also teaching about a variety of animals from around the world.

Kids and grown-ups alike will have more fun than a barrel of monkeys searching for the hidden letters in the art.

I love the illustrations that have a somewhat vintage Alice in Wonderland feel…and the antics of the animals will delight young children while the rhyming verses will invite interactive participation as kids try to guess the last word of each verse.

If you are looking for an entertaining and educational ABC book for the little ones, I think you’ve come to the right place. Here is a link to the publisher’s website where you can order a print copy.

And when Maxine stopped by to chat, she shared how this book came about:

MAXINE: Lying in bed one night I saw in my mind’s eye, hares dressed in tuxedos and carrying walking sticks—like Fred Astaire– and they were all climbing a staircase. Well yes, this is the kind of weird image that can come to authors from nowhere and without drugs. The next morning the phrase “Hares climbing stairs” teased my imagination and I took it further: Bears selling wares, Leopards playing shepherds, Toads Building Roads etc. The idea for Pigs Dancing Jigs was born— an alphabet book of animals engaged in a wide and wild variety of  activities. I’m thrilled not only that the book is published, but is enhanced with the fantastic, inventive illustrations by Pat Grush-Dewitt and Robin Dewitt. 

ME: Thank you so much, Maxine – we all love finding out how stories come to be!

Maxine Rose Schur is a children’s book author and travel essayist. You can learn more about Maxine and her books at maxinroseschur.com, facebook.com/maxine.schur. 

And if you come back tomorrow, you’ll be able to sing Happy Birthday to Julie Abery’s two new board books in the Little Animal Friends series. And then on Tuesday…well, you all know what day that is…the opening of #50PreciousWords! ME