cover image Where Jamaica Go?

Where Jamaica Go?

Dale Gottlieb. Orchard Books (NY), $14.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-531-09525-6

Inspired by the sounds of a Jamaican nursery rhyme, this sunny book dances to a reggae beat, its playful text pulsing with rhythm while illustrations sing with color. Three short stories depict young Jamaica as she variously goes into town, heads off on a beachcombing mission and catches a ride home with her father. Downtown, ``Jamaica make 'em laugh and lose their frowns''; at the beach, she comforts a boy scared by a jellyfish (``Jamaica make him laugh. She blow it a kiss''); and on the way home, ``Daddy laugh and laugh in his big Chrome Dome.'' This merriment infuses the entire narrative, so that Jamaica's fun becomes the reader's as well. Gottlieb's (I Got a Family; Train Leaves the Station) zesty artwork captures the dazzling Caribbean sky and sea, lush coconut trees, bright print dresses and gaily painted houses. Her childlike illustrations sashay and swirl to the mesmerizing pull of the language. Even the typeset text wanders here and there, as if unable to stay in one place. Where Jamaica goes, readers will want to follow. Ages 3-7. (Sept.)