When Dinosaurs go Dancing

by Judy Cook, Sonia Nadeau (Illustrator)

Overview

When Dinosaurs go Dancing has everything to delight three to eight year old palaeontologists-from fossils to foxtrot. Where else can you tango with triceratops, minuet with pachycephalosaurus, and then bow to apatosaurus before tap dancing across tectonic plates? Here's the place to dance with dinosaurs while learning how to pronounce their names! You'll dig up new facts, then pirouette to the next page to learn about exciting fossil finds throughout history. Art and Science elegantly dance together in this fanciful picture book which is sure to inspire many a classroom discussion or bedtime conversation- AND...if you like to sing while you practice your dino dance moves you can download the song at www.skytap.ca.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781460256787
Publisher:	FriesenPress
Publication date:	08/20/2015
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.11(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

JUDY COOK is a dance graduate of Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario and makes her home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She has been actively educating children through the arts for over thirty years. Following a career as a professional dancer, she currently conducts workshops in schools through the Manitoba Artists in the Schools program as well as Artspeak, an innovative arts program for youth that integrates visual art, storytelling, writing, music, mime and dance.

Judy has written and performed her original songs and stories in venues across Canada and the United States. In her creative work she guides children to build self-confidence through dance, and through collaboration with staff, students, and other artists, she brings joyful play to arts education. She has a wealth of experience in schools as a facilitator and conducts programs that include art as being integral to a well-balanced education.

When Dinosaurs go Dancing has proven to be wildly successful with children, parents, and teachers in numerous workshops and concert presentations. It is the author's vision that this will be the first book in a series called Listen to the Bones.

Editorial Reviews

2015-10-02
Two paleontologists theorize that fossilized footprints are leftovers from a prehistoric dinosaur dance party in this children's picture book. In Cook's debut, the first in a planned series called Listen to the Bones, dinosaurs waltz, tango, and shuffle. Instead of running from predators or migrating across lands, they time-step, double pirouette, and bunny hop. They wear top hats and bow ties, flowers on their heads, and decorations on their tails. They're very polite about it all—at charity balls, they nod and bow—and they're graceful, too, as they sway gently under the moonlight. After 22 pages of simple prose and full-page illustrations, however, the book switches gears and becomes a "learning centre" with explanatory paragraphs about the various dances and dinosaurs in the preceding story. There are facts about fossil collections around the world and famous paleontologists as well as other lessons for young readers: the book tells of the young 18th-century fossil collector Mary Anning and points out that "Earth is the only home we have, so let's take care of it!" Nadeau's illustrations, which include a ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex in a pink tutu, are colorful, clever treats, and the whimsical, sometimes-diagonal typesetting is also a lot of fun. The rhyming prose in the book's first half is simple, exuberant, and suitable for toddlers and early grade schoolers alike. The second half, however, is more appropriate for older children, as the descriptions of dances (the waltz is "performed to music in 3/4 time," while the minuet is a "stately dance, elegant in its simplicity") and historical terminology clash with the earlier, more basic language. As a result, young readers will likely enjoy one half of the book more than the other. A cute concept with illustrations to match, despite the disconnect between the simple story and the complex second half.

Kirkus Reviews