Stella's Dancing Days

by Sandy Asher, Kathryn Brown (Illustrator)

A charming kitten named Stella dances for the family who owns her, but as Stella grows up, she dances less and less, and everyone misses her dancing days--until she has six kittens of her own who all love to dance. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Childrens, Cats

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2001

About the author

Sandy Asher, a playwright and children's author, is probably best known for her young-adult novels and other prose works for young readers. Drawing many of the ideas and characters for her writings from her childhood memories, Asher has earned critical praise and numerous awards for novels such as Just like Jenny, Things Are Seldom What They Seem, and Everything Is Not Enough. In addition to fiction, Asher has also edited the story collections On Her Way: Stories and Poems about Growing up Girl and the award-winning With All My Heart, with All My Mind: Thirteen Stories about Growing up Jewish, which collect works that address many of the same adolescent concerns Asher confronts in her fiction.

Reviews

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute and fairly sweet. I like the illustrations, and it was nice to see the passage of time. But the story itself is maybe a bit too bland, and the description (and title) makes it seem like it's all about Stella losing her dancing days, but it hardly is at all. It's really just about the cat growing up, and while the "dancing days" may be a metaphor for that, it just isn't played like a big deal or something anybody in the book is concerned about or anything.

[Lillie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorite part: When I saw those cute baby kittens and they were so cute and the kittens all loved to dance!

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A tender family story that will dance into your heart." Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Peacegal · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the illustrations are charming, I'm not a big fan of children's books that feature pets having litters. Especially in this day and age, when we know better.

[Mayra Espinoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

as a person who loves cats, I loved reading this book. I felt the story flowed easily and it was interesting reading as time passed and Stella changed. I think it is great for teaching children that cats, and maybe dogs, won't always be young and playful.