A tale sure to have even the most uncertain wallflowers cutting loose on the dance floor.
A young South Asian girl finds the courage to dance while attending a wedding with family.
Talia is entranced by the bhangra dancers as they leap through the air. But much as she’d like to join them—and, once the dancers finish their performance, her relatives—she remains on the sidelines. Whenever she’s hit the dance floor in the past, her “feet turned into heavy clay pots,” and her “arms froze like kulfi.” Distressed, she runs to her Dadi (paternal grandmother), who encourages her to participate. Sensing Talia’s hesitation, Dadi recounts how, when she was younger, her husband—Talia’s grandfather—used to say Dadi danced like a chicken and teased her for stepping on his toes. As strange and uncoordinated as she looked, though, Dadi says that she misses the fun of bhangra; now that she uses a cane, she no longer feels comfortable dancing. Dadi’s longing for the past spurs both of them to take a big step: joining the others on the dance floor. This intergenerational tale is at once humorous, heartwarming, and inspiring. The vibrant, expressive illustrations are the perfect complement to the culturally relevant, metaphor-laden text. The intertwined themes of creative expression, risk taking, and drawing strength from our loved ones will resonate with adult and child readers alike.
A tale sure to have even the most uncertain wallflowers cutting loose on the dance floor. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9780063265028
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
Spires’ understanding of the fragility and power of the artistic impulse mixes with expert pacing and subtle...
Making things is difficult work. Readers will recognize the stages of this young heroine’s experience as she struggles to realize her vision.
First comes anticipation. The artist/engineer is spotted jauntily pulling a wagonload of junkyard treasures. Accompanied by her trusty canine companion, she begins drawing plans and building an assemblage. The narration has a breezy tone: “[S]he makes things all the time. Easy-peasy!” The colorful caricatures and creations contrast with the digital black outlines on a white background that depict an urban neighborhood. Intermittent blue-gray panels break up the white expanses on selected pages showing sequential actions. When the first piece doesn’t turn out as desired, the protagonist tries again, hoping to achieve magnificence. A model of persistence, she tries many adjustments; the vocabulary alone offers constructive behaviors: she “tinkers,” “wrenches,” “fiddles,” “examines,” “stares” and “tweaks.” Such hard work, however, combines with disappointing results, eventually leading to frustration, anger and injury. Explosive emotions are followed by defeat, portrayed with a small font and scaled-down figures. When the dog, whose expressions have humorously mirrored his owner’s through each phase, retrieves his leash, the resulting stroll serves them well. A fresh perspective brings renewed enthusiasm and—spoiler alert—a most magnificent scooter sidecar for a loyal assistant.
Spires’ understanding of the fragility and power of the artistic impulse mixes with expert pacing and subtle characterization for maximum delight. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-55453-704-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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