Rum-a-Tum-Tum

By Angela Shelf Medearis

Ransome's paintings are glorious in this celebration of the market in the French Quarter of New Orleans at the turn of the century, and Medearis' poetic rhyme captures the rhythm of the street cries and the ragtime beat of the marching band. A young girl is awakened by the shouts of the street vendors ("Nice little snap beans / pretty little corn"). She runs to the window, opens it wide. What she sees are "Creole women in red bandannas," shouting vendors with baskets on their heads, fruit sellers with juicy watermelons, shoppers searching for best buys. The beautifully composed, richly colored paintings are filled with light and movement, from market street scenes to close-ups of luscious vegetables. The child is part of it all, reaching for fruit, watching, listening, and then joining in, high-stepping, whirling, and twirling to the hot jazz notes of the marching band.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823411435
• ISBN13: 9780823411436
• Release Date: March 1997
• Publisher: Holiday House
• Length: 28 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.3" x 0.3" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3