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Bumpety, Dunkety, Thumpety-Thump!

Illustrated by Simone Shin

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About The Book

Two toddlers go on a bumpety berry hunt in this darling picture book that’s perfect for preschoolers.

Wagon on gravel goes bumpety-bump.
Pebbles in the pond fall plunkey-plunk.
Toes in the grass dance thumpety-thump.
Bumpety-plunkety-thumpety-thump!


Join two sweet siblings as they explore their backyard, get deliciously creative in the kitchen, and then spend a cozy evening preparing for bed. Along the way they’ll get muddy and messy and hungry and sleepy—just as all little ones do.

Award-winning author K.L. Going’s celebration of imagination, creativity, and sibling love will have readers young and old chiming in—and yearning for some yummy pie!

About The Author

Photo by Beverly Cooper

K.L. Going is the author of many critically acclaimed novels, including The Liberation of Gabriel King and the Printz Honor–winning Fat Kid Rules the World, as well as the picture books Bumpety, Dunkety, Thumpety-Thump!, illustrated by Simone Shin, and The Shape of the World, illustrated by Lauren Stringer. She lives with her family in Glen Spey, New York. Visit her at KLGoing.com.

About The Illustrator

Simone Shin is an award-winning illustrator and a graduate of Boston University and the Art Center College of Design. She began working as a freelancer illustrating for magazines and newspapers, and teaching children in the arts, eventually venturing into children’s book illustration. Her inspiration comes from her highly active young son, as well as her strong interests in music, nature, and family history. In her spare time, she likes to create things with fabric and cardboard for fun—game boards, telephones, record players, violins, dollhouses, just about anything she can think of! After residing for many years in the Los Angeles area, Simone currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Beach Lane Books (September 26, 2017)
  • Length: 48 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781442434141
  • Grades: P - K
  • Ages: 2 - 5
  • Lexile ® AD330L The Lexile reading levels have been certified by the Lexile developer, MetaMetrics®

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Raves and Reviews

A day of blueberry picking and all it entails is experienced in a jaunty, rollicking romp.Siblings set out barefoot through the muddy grass with their wagon, fill their bucket and mouths with the fruit, and return home with their bounty. "Berries on tongues taste bumpety-bump. / Plop them in the bucket, they go plunkety-plunk. // Bucket in the wagon rattles clunkety-clunk. // Bumpety, plunkety, clunkety-clunk." Pie baking is next as the sibs feel the plumpness of the berries through their fingers, enjoy a piece of the freshly baked dessert, help to clean up dishes, take a bath, happily say goodnight, snuggle in for a story, and fall asleep after a very satisfying day. Each scene, rendered in muted colors with printlike textures, depicts this possibly mixed-race family (one child has light-brown skin, the other has pink; mom and dad are both light-skinned) working together as the story unfolds in its sonorous, animated phrasing. Little ones will bounce along to each new frolicsome declaration right up to the somniferous end. "Snuggle in the blankie in a lumpety-lump. // Hearts beat close with a thumpety-thump. // Bumpety, lumpety, thumpety- thump." This winning read-aloud should encourage multiple recitations. (Picture book. 2-5)

– Kirkus Reviews, 7/1/17

Clunkety-clunk! Bumpety bump! This onomatopoeic treasure begs to be read aloud. Short, intuitive

rhymes move readers along as two young siblings (big sister and little brother) have a simply wonderful

day. Riding in a wagon, picking blueberries, helping Mom make a pie, dinner, dishes, a bath, and then

snuggling down for good-night stories—what could be better? Page-filling mixed-media illustrations align

perfectly with the spare text, creating warm, loving backgrounds. The happy expressions on the characters’

faces are equally comforting, including some close-ups that even kids in the back row will be able to see.

While the title refrain (“bumpety, dunkety, thumpety, thump!”) is repeated throughout the book, there are

additional lovely surprises along the way: “Bottoms in chairs slide slumpety-slump”; “Snuggle in the

blankie in a lumpety-lump.” An obvious choice for storytimes or units on rhymes, this will also be great

for introducing beginning writers to the wonders of words—especially those that don’t appear on standard

vocabulary lists.

– Booklist, August 2017

Two grinning children take a wagon out with a bumpety-bump, toss pebbles in a pond with a dunkety-dunk, and gather berries in a bucket with a plunkety-plunk. Inside, the berries are transformed into pies and the children go dunkety-dunk into the bath before they get in bed for stories (snuggled up in a lumpety-lump). Shin’s illustrations, simple shapes with a block-print feel, evoke the sights, sounds, tastes, and textures of the text’s onomatopoetic rhyme in textured earth tones accented with pops of primary color in the kids’ red wagon and yellow rain boots. The simply drawn characters are expressive in their whole bodies, grinning as they cart berries inside and splash exuberantly in the sink and tub. The ending quiets down as the bumpety, plunkety, glunkety-glunks of play and bathtime give way to the thumpety-thump of heartbeats as the family cuddles up together for storytime. This cozy story is sure to become a bedtime staple, priming little listeners (and adult readers-aloud) for sweet dreams of summer adventures.

– BCCB *STARRED REVIEW, November 2017

Awards and Honors

  • CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council)
  • CLEL Bell Picture Book Award Shortlist (CO)
  • Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Award Reading List (PA)

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More books from this author: K.L. Going

More books from this illustrator: Simone Shin