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JOSEPHINE WANTS TO DANCE by Jackie French

JOSEPHINE WANTS TO DANCE

by Jackie French & illustrated by Bruce Whatley

Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-8109-9431-7
Publisher: Abrams

The oft-told story of the stage-struck youngster who saves the show when the star is injured returns in this variation that features a ballet-dancing kangaroo named Josephine. She perseveres in the face of a doubting brother named, of course, Joey, and a giggling audience. It’s her ability to twirl and leap and point her toes that finally drives them to clap and cheer. She’s a graceful if not beautiful ballerina who practiced her art with other Australian animals but yearned for something more than the outback and found it. The author and illustrator have a number of collaborations behind them, most notably Diary of a Wombat (2003). An entertaining read-aloud that shows off an appealing tutu-clad kangaroo leaping across perfectly pink pages as if she were captured in a series of camera clicks. (Picture book. 4-7)