Tuesday Storytime: Dancing

I found so many nice dancing books that just didn't quite fit my last dance storytime that I figured I could do a second round, and here we are!

Again, we were a little on the long side, and man did we have some active (and loud) kids today.  Lots of energy, maybe a bit less on the attentive side.  :)

Miss Lina's Ballerinas and the Prince
Grace Maccarone, illustrated by Christine Davenier
ISBN: 9780312649630
Very Eloise/Madeline drawings, lots of ballet terms and poses, tongue-twisting repetitive names.

I was torn between the original (Miss Lina's Ballerinas) and this one, because the original has no boys at all, and I try not to have books that exclude one gender or population entirely, but the original ALSO has a much better flow and storyline than this one.  I went with this one in the end for representation, but honestly, the group was so crazy today, and we had so many latecomers that I don't know that any of the kids even followed the story that closely.  I do still want to do Miss Lina's Ballerinas, but I'll wait a while, and perhaps save it for a class or a special event - hurrying through the names nearly killed me.


Deer Dancer
Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Lauren Stringer
ISBN: 9781442434219
Reviewed here.

Again, with such an energetic group, I'm not sure how much of the story got through, but at least by the time we got to this book, everyone was mostly settled in and were paying attention to the pictures (which are amazing).  I love the flow of this story, but it wasn't well suited for the energy levels today.


Giraffes Can't Dance
Giles Andreae, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees (Dinosaurumpus)
ISBN: 184121681X
Vivid colors, similar to Dinosaurumpus, just sub-out jungle animals and add a dash of pathos.


Gerald the Giraffe is headed to the annual Jungle Dance, but he really can't dance, and the other animals aren't very polite about informing him.  He heads off into the moonlit night to be sad and alone (did I mention pathos) but a friendly cricket helps him find his own music and his own dance, and eventually the other animals also realize that he's got flair.  Short and snappy, gets right to the point, and the illustrations are wild and zany, even when the text is sad or quiet, so the kids have lots of bright colors and vivid compositions to look at.  This was the best tonal fit for my group's energy levels today, and I wish I'd had a whole set of books like it to match their energy.


Ahh well, if I knew the future, there'd be lots of other things I'd do instead of rigging my storytime books.

Next week:  either lions or penguins, haven't decided yet.