FRITZ DANCED THE FANDANGO

Marching—dancing, rather—to the beat of a different drummer, Fritz whirls and twirls away from his mocking fellow goats in search of a herd that respects terpsichoreans. Along the way he picks up Liesl, a sheep who’s been booted from her flock for yodeling (“YODEL-LAY-HEEEEEEEEEEEE-EWE!”), and Gerhard the dog, similarly exiled for playing the glockenspiel. Long illustrates this distant cousin to “The Bremen Town Musicians” in bright, Bill Peet–style cartoons, depicting the three pop-eyed fellow travelers trotting up and down grassy sunlit hills with purple mountains in the near background. When Fritz at length loses heart (“Will I ever find my herd? Am I destined to dance alone?”), his companions twirl loyally into the breach, dancing his dance and making such a “ruckus on the buttercuppy hills” that Fritz’s heart “fandangoed with joy.” Since Fritz’s capering includes lots of leaps, it looks more like ballet than traditional fandango, but no matter—the trio’s quest should be a short one, considering all the performing livestock already on library shelves, and the theme of unity-in-diversity is brought home with a light touch. (Picture book. 6-8)