14. ¡Mambo Mucho Mambo! the Dance That Crossed Color Lines

¡Mambo Mucho Mambo! the Dance That Crossed Color Lines. Dean Robbins. Illustrated by Eric Velásquez. 2021. [November] 40 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Millie whirled.
Her arms waved and knees wriggled.
She danced to smooth jazz songs
in her Italian neighborhood.
Trumpets tooted.
Saxophones trilled.
No one danced to jazzy songs like Millie.
Pedro jumped.
His shoulders jerked and elbows jiggled.
He danced to snappy Latin songs in his Puerto Rican neighborhood.
Maracas rattled.
Congas rumbled.
No one danced to Latin songs like Pedro.

Premise/plot: Mambo Mucho Mambo is a picture book celebrating dance, music, and integration. Set in New York City in the 1940s, the book showcases how neighborhoods (of different cultures and ethnicities) came together--and DANCED together--to the new sound of Latin jazz. Soon dancing became socializing became so much more. This picture book mentions--by name--some of the couples dancing together. Millie and Pedro were a real life couple AND dance team from the time period. (Dance brought them together. AKA: They danced and danced and fell in love.) The book is told in verse.

My thoughts: After reading the book, of course I just HAD to look up the artist Machito & His Afro-Cuban Orchestra. (You can find them on Spotify. Here is a link to the Complete Columbia Masters.) There is a song called "Mambo Mucho Mambo".

I loved this one. I do enjoy a good book that celebrates music.

The illustrations were wonderful!!! 

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers

9. Let's Dance (Ballet Bunnies #2)

Let's Dance (Ballet Bunnies #2) Swapna Reddy. Illustrated by Binny Talib. 2021. 96 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Miss Luisa's School of Dance was surprisingly noisy when Millie turned up for her ballet lesson.

Premise/plot: Millie has kept up with her dance lessons despite the unfriendly welcome and the bullying. Those bunnies must be super-super cute to make up for it! In this second adventure, the school is preparing for a recital (or show). Amber the bully is sure that Millie who is absolutely new to dancing and hardly has any skills will 'ruin' the show. She is determined to find a way to keep Millie from the stage...but with a little help from the bunnies...things may be set right before the 'curtains open.'

My thoughts: I do have to say I was wrong. My first impression is that the school only had one class. I do think there are more classes and that they are determined solely and exclusively by age. Millie's class will be the 'spring fairies' carrying water-pots.

The bunnies are still super-super cute. Millie is becoming quite chummy with a classmate, Samira. And even better friends with the four bunnies.

I think for the target audience--young girls in lower elementary school--this one is cute enough and has plenty of appeal.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers

8. Ballet Bunnies #1 The New Class

The New Class (Ballet Bunnies #1) Swapna Reddy. Illustrated by Binny Talib. 2021. 96 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Millie had been dreaming of going to Miss Luisa's School of Dance for months now. So on her sixth birthday, when Mom surprised her with ballet lessons as a gift, she screamed so loudly with joy that she woke up the neighbor's dog.

Premise/plot: Millie loves, loves, loves the idea of learning ballet. But when she starts her lessons, she finds it disappointing and frustrating. She is the ONLY ONE in her class that is a brand-new beginner to ballet. Every other person in the class has been dancing ballet for years--or years and years and years--as the case may be. How can she be anything other than discouraged when she's so very far behind and out of her league. It doesn't help that a few of the students are less than thrilled that someone with no skills/few skills is now in their class and being partnered with them. Of course, one of the girls is just a BULLY pure and simple to anyone and everyone.

What makes Millie consider sticking with ballet is her discovery of the BALLET BUNNIES. Dolly, Fifi, Pod, and Trixie are BUNNIES that live at the dance studio. They help Millie out by a) being her friend b) encouraging her to stick with it and c) teaching her some ballet.

My thoughts: This is the first in a new series. I thought the bunnies were all kinds of adorable. I'm sure the idea of BUNNIES in tutus will add to the appeal. The book screams out read me, read me, read me with a certain audience. (The only thing that might add to the appeal is if there were unicorns too.)

I find it odd that Miss Luisa's School of Dance only has one ballet class and that ALL students regardless of their skills, abilities, and age would be thrown together in one class with one teacher. That hardly seems fair to any of the students. It would surely prove frustrating to the teacher and to all the students as well.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers

182. Charlotte and the Nutcracker

Charlotte and the Nutcracker. Charlotte Nebres.WITH SARAH WARREN. 2021. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: It isn't quite Christmas--not yet. But Charlotte gets the best gift she can imagine: her first ballet class.

Premise/plot: Charlotte and the Nutcracker is a new picture book based on the true story of Charlotte Nebres, the first Black girl to play the role of Marie in New York City's production of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. The book focuses on the many, many years of hard work and dedicated practice that went into her being chosen to play Marie. 

The book provides with a (small) behind-the-scenes glimpse of the production of The Nutcracker. If you are looking for a book that retells the story of the ballet, this is not that book. This book doesn't focus so much on the plot of the story of The Nutcracker as it seeks to capture what it is like for a young dancer to be a part of this 'magical' stage production--the stuff of dreams.

My thoughts: I love, love, love The Nutcracker. To be honest George Balanchine's The Nutcracker is not my favorite Nutcracker. I really enjoyed watching Charlotte's story [among others] in the documentary series On Pointe. (The picture book did not provide a better behind the scenes glimpse than the series. But there are plenty of people who have not seen and will not get a chance to see On Pointe.) I liked this picture book. 

 

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers

114. Ballerina Bess

Ballerina Bess. Dorothy Jane Mills and Dorothy Z. Seymour. 1965. 25 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: This is Bess. Bess wants to dance. Bess wants to be a ballerina.

Premise/plot: Young readers meet Bess who wants to be a ballerina. Ballerina Bess is from the Early-Start Preschool Reader series. It has a 25 word vocabulary.

My thoughts: I had this one and Ann Likes Red growing up. While I think I prefer Ann Likes Red a little better, this one is still a lot of fun if you like vintage children's books. (It was published in 1965.)

Simple can be a great thing when you are learning to read. Words need to be either sight words (common frequency like is, was, the, this, etc.), or easy to sound out. To read a whole book on your own can be a great confidence booster.

One thing that I just noticed now as an adult is that there are a few pages where LEGS are missing. On one page readers clearly see Bess dancing ON HER TOES. And on the very next page, Bess is missing BOTH LEGS as she's shopping at a store. The sales clerk has legs, but Bess and her mother DO NOT. And on the next page. Bess, her mom, and the sales clerk are all missing legs. But fortunately Bess' legs return for the next page when she's dancing once more.

Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10

 

© 2020 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Dancing Feet

Dancing Feet. Lindsey Craig. Illustrated by Marc Brown. 2010. May 2010. Random House. 40 pages.

I liked this one. It was fun. It was playful. It was rhythmic in a good way instead of an annoying way.

Tippity! Tippity!
Little black feet!
Who is dancing that tippity beat?

Ladybugs are dancing
on tippity feet.
Tippity! Tippity!
Happy Feet!

My favorite, of course, was the elephant one.

Stompity! Stompity!
Big gray feet!
Who is dancing that stompity beat?

I liked the format of this one. I think it would be good for children needing predictability and patterns. (Young readers can use the illustrations and text to guess which animal is dancing.)

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Shake It Up, Baby!

Katz, Karen. 2009. Shake It Up, Baby! Simon & Schuster

Shake It Up, Baby is the book with a built-in-rattle. Something that makes me wonder, why didn't anyone think of it before? (Then again...a disclaimer...maybe it has been done. But if it has, I haven't seen it--or heard it!--but I'm perfectly willing to take back my statement if someone points me in direction of other built-in-rattles books.) In typical Karen Katz style, we've got a book about babies for babies. It's always fun to see this. In my humble opinion, the best subject for board books are babies. And we've got a reasonably diverse group of babies in the illustrations. These babies are on the move. Some are wiggling, jumping, twisting, turning, dancing, stomping, and clapping. These babies are excited. And who wouldn't be when the book itself provides a fun soundtrack!

Have you seen this one? What did you think? Do you have a little reader that loves it?

© Becky Laney of Young Readers