High Five

by Adam Rubin, Daniel Salmieri (Illustrator)

Overview

A #1 New York Times bestseller from the creators of the beloved Dragons Love Tacos comes a rollicking, rhyme-tastic, interactive high five competition—starring YOU!

Discover the lost art of the high five and improve your slapping skills just in time for the annual high five contest! From hand-limbering stretches to lessons on five-ing with finesse, readers are guided through a series of interactive challenges, each goofier than the next.

Acclaimed creative duo Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri have dreamed up another one-of-a-kind, laugh-out-loud book that kids will beg to read again and again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525428893
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/16/2019
Pages:	64
Sales rank:	137,523
Product dimensions:	11.10(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	590L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Adam Rubin is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of ten critically-acclaimed picture books, including the Those Darn Squirrels trilogy, Dragons Love Tacos, Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel, Secret Pizza Party, Robo-Sauce and El Chupacabras (which was short-listed for the 2018 Texas Blue Bonnet award). He spent ten years working as a creative director in the advertising industry before leaving his day job to write full-time. In between writing projects, he designs and collects optical illusions, puzzles and games. His favorite color is blue, his favorite food is fried chicken, and his favorite animal is the otter.

Daniel Salmieri is an award-winning illustrator from Brooklyn, NY. He has illustrated 12 picture books, including three New York Times best-sellers (Dragons Love Tacos, Robo-Sauce and Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel), and he regularly creates illustrations for magazines and newspapers. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Sophia and their dog Ronni. His favorite things to draw are cars, plants, dogs and people.

Editorial Reviews

03/04/2019

In this interactive picture book by the Dragons Love Tacos team, a high-five champion called Sensei, who resembles Bigfoot and wears a multicolored belt, offers to apprentice readers. It’s all to prepare for the annual high-five contest, where, Rubin writes, “high five fans from far and near/ all press their palms against the rest,/ to see whose high five is the best.” Spreads invite readers to try out their best high fives, and Salmieri employs forced perspective so that each contestant’s slapping hand extends right up to the image’s foreground. The narrative arc is relatively straightforward: there’s the training, in which the reader apparently makes a very favorable impression; followed by the big competition, which slowly ups the ante; culminating in the reader matching slaps with Octopus Jones (“He has eight hands, you just have two.../ a little uneven, it’s true”) before the winner is revealed. Although Rubin’s rhymes are only serviceable and the plot feels less sturdy than the team’s other collaborations, the pictures offer plenty of room to receive readers’ high-five innovations, and the pages crackle with Salmieri’s neon palette and scratchy, kinetic pencil lines. Ages 3–5. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"A high-spirited impetus to clap hands—or better yet, someone else's." —Kirkus 

"The pictures offer plenty of room to receive readers’ high-five innovations, and the pages crackle with Salmieri’s neon palette and scratchy, kinetic pencil lines." —Publishers Weekly

"An interesting concept will elicit giggles and enthusiasm from readers, and neon colored pencil illustrations, reminiscent of 80s spandex suits, fill pages with vibrancy and energy." —School Library Journal

"This new offering from the Dragons Love Tacos team is sure to delight audiences—and should make for lively story times." —Booklist

From the Publisher

06/14/2019

PreS-Gr 2-The 75th Annual High Five Tournament approaches, and Sensei (a large Yeti-like creature) is looking for a new student to train for the competition. There's much to practice and more to learn, from stretching to education on various high five methods. When the big day arrives, one competitor after another takes on, and is defeated by, the kid, until the final round against Octopus Jones. After an amazing eight-handed high five, the kid emerges victorious, taking home the High Five Tournament trophy. An interesting concept will elicit giggles and enthusiasm from readers, and neon colored pencil illustrations, reminiscent of 80s spandex suits, fill pages with vibrancy and energy. The text itself holds the story back—inconsistent or forced rhyme and uneven flow make this a difficult read-aloud, and the book's length will likely lose readers' interest before the final pages. This humorous play on a silly competition with sports-movie-montage storytelling is a witty idea, but doesn't quite deliver. VERDICT An additional purchase for collections short on picture books for older readers.-Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser, St. Paul Public Library

School Library Journal

2019-01-15

The Dragons Love Tacos (2012) crew invites readers to the 75th Annual High Five Tournament.

It's not going to be a walkover, as opponents in the five rounds range from Gigantic the Bear ("700 Pounds of Hair") and, after her, dizzying bouncer Kangaroo Paul to the ultimate challenger, eight-limbed Octopus Jones. Fortunately, young contenders have a yetilike ex-champ in their corner to offer vigorous if unevenly rhymed and metered commentary ("Was that your new signature slap? / My grandma fives better than that!") as well as savvy advice on hand positioning and style points. Accentuated by block letters in diverse hues and the occasional outsized "HIGH FIVE!" Salmieri's scribbly ink-and-colored-pencil drawings of the all-animal cast, audience, and panel of judges reflect the infectiously rising suspense and wild excitement as the unseen "Kid" the narrator addresses sends each foe in succession reeling away in stunned defeat. Just one thing left to do: "Hold up your trophy / and shout out ‘woo-hoo!' / The new high five champ is you!" Along with the verbal coaching, a chart of variations on "The Classic," such as "The Windmill," "The Double Behind the Back Slam," and even "The High Foot," offers further challenges to ambitious fivers of all genders. As characters frequently address "Kid" directly and hold up dramatically foreshortened hands or paws to viewers, caregivers should be ready for this book to take a beating.

A high-spirited impetus to clap hands—or better yet, someone else's. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews

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