Elizabeth Bluemle

This one is a crazy kid jazz dance book, in which a little boy brings together his neighborhood for a huge block party that celebrates the group as a whole and the joyful individuality of each person's uniqueness, the way they "wokka-wokka" separately and together.

I wrote this book several years after my nephew, Will, started asking his family at age 2, "How do you wokka-wokka?" We had no idea what he meant, so we started making up silly dance moves to answer him. There was the seed of something really wonderful in that question, and several years later, my memories of summer block parties in New York City collided with the joyful dances my nephew inspired, and this book was born.

The fabulous Randy Cecil, who also illustrated my first picture book, MY FATHER THE DOG, has brought WOKKA to crazy life, too. Enjoy!