Dance

by Matthew Van Fleet, Matthew Van Fleet (Illustrator)

Overview

National IndieBound Bestseller
“Hugely appealing...” —Shelf Awareness
A Parent.co “Most Anticipated Book of 2017” Spring/Winter edition

From the #1 New York Times bestselling children’s book creator Matthew Van Fleet comes a laugh-out-loud, jazzy story of a little baby chick who learns how to dance from a friendly band of animals who know all the right moves!

Shake, shake, shake, shimmy, shimmy, shake! You can dance!

Young readers will delight in the charming art, jazzy text, and in pulling the five sturdy pull tabs to make the different animals bounce, shake and bop as they dance to the Hippoppta Hula, Gator Mashed Patater, and more! Listen and dance to the song at VanFleetBooks.com. Get your dancing feet ready!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481487078
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Publication date:	02/14/2017
Pages:	16
Sales rank:	116,392
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 10.90(h) x 1.50(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Matthew Van Fleet’s innovative books have been introducing children to basic concepts for more than twenty years. His uniquely designed board books invite toddlers to touch, press, pull, lift, and even sniff as they explore colors, shapes, numbers, letters, opposites, and more. His New York Times bestselling titles include Cat, Heads, Alphabet, and Moo, as well as the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tails and Dog. His books have sold more than eight million copies and have been translated around the world. He lives with his family in New York. Visit him online at VanFleetBooks.com.

Matthew Van Fleet’s innovative books have been introducing children to basic concepts for more than twenty years. His uniquely designed board books invite toddlers to touch, press, pull, lift, and even sniff as they explore colors, shapes, numbers, letters, opposites, and more. His New York Times bestselling titles include Cat, Heads, Alphabet, and Moo, as well as the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tails and Dog. His books have sold more than eight million copies and have been translated around the world. He lives with his family in New York. Visit him online at VanFleetBooks.com.

Editorial Reviews

11/28/2016
Reprising the format of interactive books that include Color Dog, Heads, Moo, and Munch, Van Fleet returns with a story that sees a newborn chick heading to the dance hall to learn how to boogie. Hippos, rabbits, pigs, and other animals take turns showing off dance moves (“Cool, Chickie baby, now you’re great and gettin’ greater!/ Now swing both your arms and do the Gator Mashed Potater!”), and readers help the creatures shake their stuff by pulling sturdy cardboard tabs on the right-hand edge of the spreads. Working in the clean cartoon style of his previous books, Van Fleet creates a carefree cast of dancing animals; the baby chick joins in the dancing almost immediately, and children are all but certain to follow suit. A rockabilly recording of the song, performed by Dave Bickler of the rock band Survivor, is available for online listening. Ages 2–up. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"It's hard to decide what is the best part of Matthew Van Fleet's extra-sturdy interactive board book. Is it the toe-tapping rhymes, the adorable pastel-colored animals or the big tabs that, when pulled, make the gator's arms swing, the hippopotamus's skirt swish and the Bouncy Bunny's feet "hippy hippy HOP!" behind clear plastic windows? Preschoolers will chant along .with a menagerie of wild and barnyard animals ... hugely appealing." Shelf Awareness

February 14, 2017 - Shelf Awareness for Readers

2017-05-24
Using his signature supersturdy pull-tabs to animate the scenes, Van Fleet concocts a crowd pleaser about a baby chick learning to dance. At the dance hall, a newly hatched chick, dubbed "Chickie Baby," is taught to shake by hippopotamuses, to hop by bunnies, and more. The rhyming text is playfully repetitive and rhythmic, employing some clever wordplay: "Cool, Chickie Baby, now you're great and gettin' greater! / Now swing both your arms and do the Gator Mashed Potater!" Here an alligator teaches Chickie Baby a fist-pumping arm motion (not actually the 1960s mashed potato dance), activated by the pull-tab on the right of the page. There are times when the text's phrases miss the meter and the refrain after Chickie Baby learns a step ("You can dance!") doesn't quite flow. The final double-page spread shows Chickie Baby showing off all of his moves, and his friends offer a curtain call in the form of a gatefold pop-up. But the star here, for any toddler or preschooler, will be the extra-large pull-tabs. From the "Busy Beaver Bop" to the "Crazy Piggy Tap," these tabs demand to be pulled repeatedly—and they can take it. A thick, clear piece of plastic acts as protection for the parts, making this series the sturdiest movable books available. Little fingers will enjoy making this book dance, and their bodies may not be far behind. (Pop-up board book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews