Tag Archives: Dancing

Oct2

Cato’s Can Can – Juliet Sampson & Katrina Fisher

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Ford St Publishing

August 2021

ISBN: 9781025804751

RRP: $24.95

Juliet’s newest book is just sheer joyfulness on paper! I know she loves her dancing, and so do we in our family – it’s only the current generation who have declined to dance actually *sad face* – so this gorgeous, happy story about Cato the cockatoo who yearns for someone with whom to dance is just perfect. Equally, your kiddos who dance – or even those who just have to move with the music! – will love it as much.

Cato finds plenty of dancers from the local dance school but just as he seems to get close they all disappear. Finally, he is brave enough to go right inside the building and there they all are – the ballet dancers who leap, the rappers who spin and all the rest. All the dancers he has seen in his search, with their actions so like other native birds, welcome him into their class and suddenly – everyone is learning a new dance – the can can!

This is sweet and happy and full of such positive energy, and a lovely affirmation that we can always find kindred spirits if we care to look. I absolutely love Juliet’s comparisons to our various birds and Katrina’s illustrations are just spot on, with the dancing children almost bursting off the pages with their energy.

Highly recommended for your little readers from around Prep upwards – I can well imagine some lively dance sessions both during and after a shared reading. You can also find teaching notes and activities here. [I have in fact, made a similar birdy craft with my kiddos and it’s a huge hit!]

Aug26

Dinosaur Disco – Deborah Kelly

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9780857981363

ISBN: 9780857981363

Published: 01/10/2015

Imprint: Random House Australia Children’s

Extent: 32 pages

Really we can never get enough of dinosaurs! Boys or girls, fiction or nonfiction, surely they must be one of the most eternally popular choices for kids’ books.

In our house this is most definitely true and we loved the crazy dinos shaking their booties and the boards on the disco floor. Lots of rhythm and rhyme and onomatopoeia abound as the dinosaurs salsa, moonwalk and even crump it up.  With so many different types of dinosaurs strutting their stuff the floor starts to really rumble but the very ground shakes with the arrival of a gate crashing T-Rex! Let’s hope he isn’t looking for supper!

The text also cleverly integrates some of those rather pesky long dinosaur names and luckily there is also a pronunciation guide for those of us who are not as able as five year olds to get our tongues around them.   To follow up the story some strange but true facts are also included making this book not only fun but educational.

Daron Parton’s illustrations of the decoratively dressed dinosaurs lend even more quirkiness to the story.

This is bound to be a favourite with many young readers and I’m sure there could be many impromptu disco sessions in your library after a reading.

Highly recommended for boys and girls aged around 3 to 8 years.

Jan7

Silver Shoes  – Samantha-Ellen Bound

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allthatjazz

Silver Shoes 1: All that Jazz

ISBN: 9780857982827

Published: 02/01/2015

Imprint: Random House Australia Children’s

Extent: 144 pages

hitthestreets

Silver Shoes 2: Hit the Streets

ISBN: 9780857982841

Published: 02/01/2015

Imprint: Random House Australia Children’s

Extent: 144 pages

According to statistics dancing is the second most popular sport in Australia and for the young girls who have a passion for it; this is a brand new series they will love.

These are not ‘ballet’ books. The characters in this dancing school are hip-hoppers and jazz dancers completely rapt with all that goes with performing.

In the first book we meet Ellie Irvin, ten years old who loves all kind of dancing and she’s tried them all but her true devotion is to jazz. When her dance teacher announces she will be auditioning students for a special performance troupe, Ellie is wild with excitement. But of course, there are always problems – firstly, she’s not very good at auditions and then there is her competition including a new student to Silver Shoes. No dance school would be complete without it’s dramas but happily there is a very satisfactory resolution for Ellie.

The second book focuses on new student Ashley, whose family are having financial problems which in turn threatens to curtail her dancing. How will she achieve her dreams of being a star performer and selected as the new face for the Danceworks range when she can’t even have new shoes? It’s a relief to find out that a when she goes to hip hop classes – her favourite style – there are a lot of other students without shoes.

Although there many boys who dance, including some in the books, these are pitched squarely at girls who will enjoy not only the dancing but the rivalries and interactions between all the students from Silver Shoes and their competitors.

Each book also contains a glossary of dance terms and a ‘how to’ for a dance move – spread out the furniture to leave some room for practice!

Recommended for readers aged around 8/9 years up. Two further volumes will be released in March so a good opportunity for those readers who love series reading!

S!