A strong quest tale encouraging imagination, movement, and hard work.
This 16th installment of Once Upon a Dance’s children’s book series presents a birthday story about the value of a journey.
A White child named Frankie who lives on Anorac Island is excited about a birthday tradition. Birthday kids on Anorac can travel to a nearby island to make a wish on a magical blue feather. Frankie intends to wish to become a famous dancer. After some advice from Auntie Duke to “use your mind, body, and imagination as you wander in the wonder”; ask for help when needed; and be open-minded, Frankie heads off. In the forest, Frankie meets a talking eagle, flowers that deliver a mysterious message, a riddle-telling Tyrannosaurus rex, and a gorilla swinging from vines, all of whom help the youngster along the path. When Frankie arrives at the goal, the child realizes that wishing to be a famous dancer would mean skipping out on the journey—and the odyssey through the forest was what made the day fun. As with previous books in the series, each two-page spread features a large illustration, prose that tells the story, and a section where White ballerina Konora (her stage name) leads young readers and dancers through retelling the tale with their bodies. Most of the movements in this story are accessible, with only one challenging pose (a bridge—to mimic the archway entrance to the magical forest), which Konora guides readers through in steps. Advanced dancers can add their own, more challenging spins to the recommended movements, but beginning performers and preschool listeners may choose to stick with the descriptions, using their imaginations to act out Frankie’s adventures. Though geared toward a younger audience, some complex vocabulary words (overwhelmed, frolicked) make this a better choice for classroom reading aloud and perusing by solid independent readers. Rumińska’s digital paintings depicting Frankie are brightly colored, as opposed to the high-contrast, uncredited photographs of Konora, who wears a black leotard and leggings and moves against a white background. Both the prose and the pictures deftly avoid identifying Frankie’s gender. No pronouns are used in the text, and Frankie’s bushy, short red hair; freckles; and shorts and T-shirt give no gender cues, reinforcing that dancing is for everyone.
A strong quest tale encouraging imagination, movement, and hard work.Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2022
ISBN: 9781955555548
Page Count: 43
Publisher: Once Upon A Dance
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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