While little ones will enjoy pushing the buttons, there is little here to satisfy burgeoning ballet enthusiasts
An introduction to classic ballet stories, including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty.
Each of eight double page-spreads depicts one scene from these and other famous works and offers a short summary of the ballet’s plot. A plastic extension attached to the back page includes eight buttons that sample brief, tinny passages of the ballets’ music. The plot synopses are confusing and may leave the preschool audience baffled or bored. There is a long description of the nearly plotless The Afternoon of a Faun. Perhaps in a nod to those caregivers who are not ready to delve into the teen suicide of Romeo and Juliet and the idea of human sacrifice in Coppélia, the text glosses over these plot points. The smooth art, which looks to have been created with the aid of a computer, is a mix of muted and bold colors. The overall look combines the retro feel of early Disney animation with the big and languid eyes of anime; all dancers depicted are white. While the action is as fluid and lithe as one would expect, not all sequences clearly illustrate the scenes. For example, the Don Quixote spread features an image of a female, tutu-wearing ballet dancer front and center, but the summary references only Don Quixote and a robber.
While little ones will enjoy pushing the buttons, there is little here to satisfy burgeoning ballet enthusiasts . (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-2-7338-5245-3
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Auzou Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Appealing enough, but adds little to the substantial dinosaur subgenre. (Picture book. 3-5)
Each dinosaur has his favorite dance and really knows how to shake it!
The fang-tastic T. Rex serves as emcee, introducing a galaxy of dancing dinosaur stars. (He also does a mean tango.) The Duckbills favor disco, Steggy likes the Twist and the Raptors tap dance, complete with canes and hats. In all, 14 varieties of dinosaur step out, illustrated in bold full-page pictures. Tracey Triceratops, adorned with a sparkling gold necklace and matching shoes, does body pops. The Pachycephalosaurus brothers breakdance. Lily Dilophosaurus executes an elegant waltz, in a hot-pink gown and scarves for gesticulation. Patty Apatasaurus and her crew of three samba, careful to avoid the pile of poo she's deposited(!). Maia Maiasaurus moonwalks in one white glove. Judges hold up scores that vary wildly. And every few pages, a small illustration in the corner of the page depicts a judge being snatched away by green claws. Wildish's pictures are funny, but Clarke's rhyming text is disappointingly minimal, relying on the tropes of reality-TV dance shows that many in the audience may not recognize.
Appealing enough, but adds little to the substantial dinosaur subgenre. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-936140-67-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Imagine Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
A self-consciously didactic story that deals blandly with its theme.
Wince-inducing platitudes lace this saccharine story of loving and being loved.
Tulip loves to dance. All the time. Her parents think she’s wonderful, and everyone smiles vacuously. All the time. Tulip’s smiling parents bring her to the park, where she befriends a large, unaccompanied dog with a note on his rope collar that says his name is Rex and that he is “not quite like other dogs.” After ordering him to fetch, sit and catch, none of which he does, she tells him that she doesn’t “mind a bit. We all have something we love to do. We just have to discover what it is.” It appears he loves romping with Tulip. When it’s time to go home, Tulip cavorts some more and discovers that on the back of Rex’s note is a plea: “Will you take me home?” Tulip’s doting parents allow this. By the end of the book, Tulip proclaims that “there’s nothing quite like sharing love….” Tulip may resolutely dip, twirl, gallop and pirouette through each earnest, well-meaning page, but the story itself putters flatly along until, with a tired sigh, it ends. The illustrations, while colorful, add no other layers, simply mirroring what the text relates.
A self-consciously didactic story that deals blandly with its theme. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Dec. 23, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-209413-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2013
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