In Florida, 1942, a most unusual collaboration took place. George Balanchine, the great expatriate Russian choreographer, created a dance for John Ringling North’s circus elephants to music by his good friend, the great expatriate Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. Schubert’s understated but informative text contrasts delightfully with the grand goings-on as elephants rehearse for weeks in lovely pink tutus. With Modoc, an Indian elephant performing a pas de deux with Vera Zorina, a popular ballet and Broadway star, the staging was a dazzling success. Parker’s watercolor designs swirl about, capturing the procession of elephants, the skyline of St. Petersburg and the exuberance of four-legged creatures looking even more elegant than the ballerinas. An afterword and photographs provide additional information and confirm that the ballet, occasionally performed today with ballet students, actually took place. A charming tale to share with young fans of the circus and ballet. (bibliography, web sites, extensive author note) (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-59643-075-3
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Deborah Brodie/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
The snappy text will get toes tapping, but the information it carries is limited.
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)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-63592-142-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
An eye-catching, toe-tapping celebration of the melodies in everyday sounds.
A blind girl endeavors to share her musical perception of city sounds.
When Emmalene and Grandma Jean set out one Sunday, Emmalene rejoices at the “busy city symphony” that surrounds them as Bernstrom imbues his rhythmically rhyming text with exuberant onomatopoeia. There’s the “RUMBLE” of the bus, the “BIPPITY-BOP!” of a nearby marching band, and the “tippity-tapping” of the wind. But to impatient Grandma Jean, the sounds are mere “commotion”; for her, music is the church choir’s “loud and joyous” song. When Emmalene becomes frustrated that Grandma Jean doesn’t understand, Grandma Jean valiantly tries to hear from her perspective. But only after Emmalene covers Grandma Jean’s eyes does Grandma Jean finally hear her song; in kaleidoscopically colored text against black background, “acorns ticked. A backhoe WRECKED. A truck HARRUMPHED. And birds peck-pecked.” Emmalene and a tearful Grandma Jean embrace, and together they listen to the city’s “CLAPPING / FLAPPING / tippity-tapping” tune. Mohammed’s bright, bold illustrations vividly animate the bustling city, and Emmalene’s and Grandma Jean’s expressions are endearing; their love is palpable. Though Grandma Jean’s poignant epiphany echoes the trope of a disabled character imparting a lesson to a nondisabled character, the potentially off-key note is offset by the heartwarming portrayal of Emmalene and her grandma’s intergenerational bonding. Grandma Jean and Emmalene present Black with light- and dark-brown skin respectively. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An eye-catching, toe-tapping celebration of the melodies in everyday sounds. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-301112-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
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