A charming children’s book with valuable basic dance lessons on every page.
A cricket wants to find her own song and uses the power of imagination in this latest book in the Once Upon a Dance children’s book series.
This ambitious book, geared toward very young readers, once again combines a children’s story and dance guidebook, with lush, detailed, and slightly abstract illustrations taking center stage. The book tells the story of Sora, a cricket who’s alone among others of their kind chirping away—a “cricket orchestra”—as they can’t find their own song to sing. They embark on a fanciful quest to find the imagination that others say they lack. Every time Sora says they can’t imagine something, the character transforms into that thing, whether it’s a songbird chirping and singing or a fish making noise with underwater bubbles. Finally, when a threatening creature tells Sora that trees taste terrible, the cricket says, “I can’t imagine it’s as bad as all that” and turns into a tree. Sora realizes that in order to make the transformations stop, they just need to open their eyes; Sora is then a cricket once again but with a vivid imagination and, finally, a song to sing. It’s a lovely story, with a helpful addition: Ballerina Konora is pictured, in photographs by Dan Lao Photography, doing basic dance moves that help illustrate the action and invite readers to participate. For instance, she lifts her arms to mimic diving in water or stretches her arms and legs to “be” a tree. The movements and noises the ballerina suggests will entice many youngsters to attempt them. The story itself is appealing, although author Herbert’s text seems to play second fiddle to illustrator Partridge’s images. Still, the two create a beautiful world for Sora and their menagerie of friends to live in—and by the time the book is over, readers will probably have come up with some dance moves of their own.
A charming children’s book with valuable basic dance lessons on every page.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9781955555609
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.
Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.
Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9798217032464
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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