ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
PICTURE BOOKS
Toyofuku, Makiko

I Want to Dance

32 pp. | Kane Miller | September, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-68464-130-7 $12.99
(2) K-3 A little white bunny with bright red cheeks gets up the courage to investigate a building "filled with beautiful music" that glows against the green forest. Peeking in, she sees a long yellow studio with nine girls in white leotards dancing and realizes, "I want to dance, too." She knocks on the door, and without the bunny speaking, the students and teacher understand that she wants to learn ballet. She joins the girls, and using a stack of books instead of the too-high barre, she begins learning the steps. In a set of small pictures, she demonstrates ballet positions; her body looks graceful in some, and more awkward in others. It culminates in a grand jeté, as she springs high into the air using her rabbit legs. A crowd of her bunny friends, in shades of brown and gray, want to join, too, and the picture of the bunnies interposed with the human girls is sweetly comical. It all ends in a bunny recital in the woods, where they make their own costumes and are joined by the humans in a scene reminiscent of Giselle. It's an old-fashioned, Eurocentric take on ballet, with everyone in tutus and pink pointe shoes, but ballet fans will enjoy the graceful poses, the fairy tale–pretty woods, and the kindliness of the dancers willing to include bunnies in their love for dance.
Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

RELATED 

PICTURE BOOKS

Born Ready
by Patterson, Jodie
PICTURE BOOKS

The House of Grass and Sky
by Ray, Mary Lyn
PICTURE BOOKS

The Dog's Gardener
by Storms, Patricia
PICTURE BOOKS

And I Paint It
by Kephart, Beth
PICTURE BOOKS

Poem in My Pocket
by Tougas, Chris
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?