Let's Dance!

by Valerie Bolling, Maine Diaz (Illustrator)

Overview

This rhythmic showcase of dances from all over the world features children of diverse backgrounds and abilities tapping, spinning, and boogying away!

Tap, twirl, twist, spin! With musical, rhyming text, author Valerie Bolling shines a spotlight on dances from across the globe, while energetic art from Maine Diaz shows off all the moves and the diverse people who do them. From the cha cha of Cuba to the stepping of Ireland, kids will want to leap, dip, and zip along with the dances on the page!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635921427
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	03/03/2020
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	660,707
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	NP (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Valerie Bolling has been an educator for over 25 years and a writer since age 4. She and her husband live in Connecticut and enjoy traveling, hiking, reading, going to the theater... and dancing.

Maine Diaz was born in La Plata, Argentina. She studied Audiovisual communications at Universidad De La Plata and her work can be seen in a number of films as well as children's books.

Editorial Reviews

2021 Crystal Kite Award Winner

Finalist, 2021 Connecticut Book Awards


"Dancing is one of the most universal elements of cultures the world over. In onomatopoeic, rhyming text, Bolling encourages readers to dance in styles including folk dance, classical ballet, breakdancing, and line dancing. Read aloud, the zippy text will engage young children... (and) will get toes tapping." — Kirkus Reviews 

"Debut author Bolling presents 10 forms of dance in short, rhyming stanzas. Alongside the text are bright, spirited illustrations of children doing various dances such as Kathak (India) and Kuku (Guinea), as well as styles with origins in the United States, including break dancing and disco. Images depicting dances from the United States feature groups of children who are diverse in race, body size, and abilities. A fun and lively title." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

03/20/2020

PreS-Gr 1—Debut author Bolling presents 10 forms of dance in short, rhyming stanzas. Each spread features a two-part phrase written in a font that matches the dance style. Alongside the text are bright, spirited illustrations of children doing various dances such as Kathak (India) and Kuku (Guinea), as well as styles with origins in the United States, including break dancing and disco. While some of the rhymes are very descriptive, others are nonspecific and do not provide much to enhance the illustrations. For example, the page with the Long-Sleeve Dance from China says "Glide and slide, side to side." Images depicting dances from the United States feature groups of children who are diverse in race, body size, and abilities. The back matter contains short description of each dance style, though, owing to the length and intended audience, these are also somewhat limited. VERDICT A fun and lively title; however, children will learn only a limited amount about each type of dance. For a more informative book, choose Marilyn Singer's Feel the Beat.—Clara Hendricks, Cambridge Public Library, MA

School Library Journal

2019-12-22
Dancing is one of the most universal elements of cultures the world over.

In onomatopoeic, rhyming text, Bolling encourages readers to dance in styles including folk dance, classical ballet, breakdancing, and line dancing. Read aloud, the zippy text will engage young children: "Tappity Tap / Fingers Snap," reads the rhyme on the double-page spread for flamenco; "Jiggity-Jig / Zig-zag-zig" describes Irish step dancing. The ballet pages stereotypically include only children in dresses or tutus, but one of these dancers wears hijab. Overall, children included are racially diverse and vary in gender presentation. Diaz's illustrations show her background in animated films; her active child dancers generally have the large-eyed sameness of cartoon characters. The endpapers, with shoes and musical instruments, could become a matching game with pages in the book. The dances depicted are described at the end, including kathak from India and kuku from Guinea, West Africa. Unfortunately, these explanations are quite rudimentary. Kathak dancers use their facial expressions extensively in addition to the "movements of their hands and their jingling feet," as described in the book. Although today kuku is danced at all types of celebrations in several countries, it was once done after fishing, an activity acknowledged in the illustrations but not mentioned in the explanatory text.

The snappy text will get toes tapping, but the information it carries is limited. (Informational picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews