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Dance!
Dance celebrates the exhilaration, joy and magic of movement. A lyrical, simple text is matched by astounding photographs.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 2, 2016
Hey, Mom! Look at me! I'm dancing!
The inner summary of this book is pretty accurate: "Introduces basic concepts of dance through poetic text and photographs." Yeah. It's a bunch of photos of the writer of the poetry, who is a dancer, dancing. The text describes what he does to dance and how he feels when he's dancing. I don't really know what to say about it. It seems like it's trying too hard to be poetic and deep, but it's not really either of those. "When I am dancing,/I can make lines,/and I can make curves." Yes, the human body is capable of both of those things. "When I dance,/I use parts of me,/and I use all of me." Well, yeah! How could you not do both of those things, when you were dancing? I guess you could just move your arm around or something, but that wouldn't be called dancing, would it? I don't know. The pictures combined with the text make it seem like the author is just full of himself. He probably isn't really, but it comes across that way.
It's not a bad book, if somebody really liked dancing, especially if they liked this particular dancer. I think maybe it would be better if it was pictures of a little kid, instead of him. Because then kids would identify with it better. The text kind of seems like something a little kid would say, and that's probably what he's going for as an author. But since it's all pictures of him, it makes it seem a lot more egotistical than it has to be.
Message: Dancing is awesome.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
The inner summary of this book is pretty accurate: "Introduces basic concepts of dance through poetic text and photographs." Yeah. It's a bunch of photos of the writer of the poetry, who is a dancer, dancing. The text describes what he does to dance and how he feels when he's dancing. I don't really know what to say about it. It seems like it's trying too hard to be poetic and deep, but it's not really either of those. "When I am dancing,/I can make lines,/and I can make curves." Yes, the human body is capable of both of those things. "When I dance,/I use parts of me,/and I use all of me." Well, yeah! How could you not do both of those things, when you were dancing? I guess you could just move your arm around or something, but that wouldn't be called dancing, would it? I don't know. The pictures combined with the text make it seem like the author is just full of himself. He probably isn't really, but it comes across that way.
It's not a bad book, if somebody really liked dancing, especially if they liked this particular dancer. I think maybe it would be better if it was pictures of a little kid, instead of him. Because then kids would identify with it better. The text kind of seems like something a little kid would say, and that's probably what he's going for as an author. But since it's all pictures of him, it makes it seem a lot more egotistical than it has to be.
Message: Dancing is awesome.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
February 25, 2015
The size and clarity of the pictures really help kids understand what each stance should look like, and if you have enough room and energy, you could definitely use this book to spark a participatory dance session with your little ones. It's not a perfect book, but it's certainly useful for children's programming.
July 28, 2016
A very simple book that uses words and photographs of Bill T. Jones in dance poses to create a poem in picture book form. Jones's words and Susan Kuklin's photographs are simple but they are stunning.
August 23, 2016
Beautiful photographs and illustrations telling the story of dance in few words but many emotions. A great way to start a conversation about dance and invite children to move like the pictures in the book.
June 30, 2009
Interesting book that introduces kids to the world of dance, through a dancer's eyes. Illustrations are photographs of author posing, and he is a noted choreographer/dancer.
January 25, 2012
Large format, start white pages with interpretative photos, spare lyrical text. 1998, but timeless.
Quote: Dancve is action and shape designed in space and time to express feelings and ideas.
Quote: Dancve is action and shape designed in space and time to express feelings and ideas.
July 30, 2014
Wonderful book for any child.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews