Tashi and the Dancing Shoes

Tashi #8

by Anna Fienberg, Kim Gamble (Illustrator), Barbara Fienberg

There’s no stopping Tashi in his new adventure, where Tashi encounters magic shoes and confronts Uncle Tiki Pu’s sneaky plan at the Emperor’s court. Things are looking great again for Tashi until he visits the fortuneteller, Luk Ahed, who tells him that his 10th birthday will be his last. The next morning, Tashi prepares a lavish meal for the protector of long life and begins the race against time. As always, this story is told in exciting detail that will thrill young readers.

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy, Young Adult, Adventure

64 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2002

About the author

Anna Fienberg grew up in a house filled with books. Her mother was a teacher librarian who relished stories as much as chocolates. 'On Sunday mornings we'd all lie in bed with our books, lost in magical wardrobes, witches’ spells, genies’ magic… What we were going to read next was just as important in our family as what was for lunch!' says Anna.

Anna started writing stories when she was eight, but never imagined being an author. She studied psychology, fascinated by the dark world of dreams. She gave up counseling after an unfortunate incident with an enraged man and a chair (he missed!), began writing and scored the best job in the world. 'Working for School Magazine was a treat,' Anna says. 'I couldn't believe you could get paid for sitting back comfortably in your chair, cappuccino in hand, reading over a thousand books a year. Heaven!' Of course, as an editor she also had to write reviews and articles, stories and plays. One of those stories for School Magazine later became her first book.

Reviews

[Jill Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another delightful Tashi story. This time Jack invited Tashi to dinner to meet his Uncle Joe who was visiting. Naturally Uncle Joe was interested in Tashi and his family. So Tashi began telling him how no matter if you have forty uncles and fifty-six aunts and nine hundred and two cousins, all of them are precious. He set out to find his missing cousin Lotus Blossom, but before he did he went to the town cobbler ‘Not Yet’ who offered him a pair of red shoes. They were magic shoes and Tashi bounced high in the air with each step getting to the forest very quickly. That’s where he found a very scared and trapped Lotus Blossum. After he rescued her from the Tiger pit he bounced with her back to the village. His greedy uncle Tiki Pu decided that Tashi and his dancing shoes, (which wouldn’t come off), should go and perform for the Emperor. The Master of Revels had other ideas. Princes Sarashina burst into the room and stopped Tashi having his feet cut off. Tashi did perform for the Emperor but his mean uncle snatched his reward money. The Emperor asked if there was anything he could do for Tashi, who innocently replied, not for me, but my Uncle longs to travel. When Tashi returned home his Uncle was on a ship to Africa. Uncle Joe asked Tashi to come to dinner the next night, he was cooking alligator!

[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Tashi marathon for the day continues unabated as this as the third one I finished and two more fine tales in Tasha land to consume, Viva La Tasha!!

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of a sudden, almost every second-grader I volunteer with has started reading these Tashi books. Since I'd never heard of them, I decided I needed to check one out for myself.

I picked #8, Tashi and the Dancing Shoes, because I was intrigued by the idea of dancing shoes. The book is a nice quick read for adults, and I can see why kids like the stories. They're sort of adventurous, fun, exciting to see what's going to happen, and you want the bad guy to get what's coming to him. The only downside, though, was that it felt like I needed to read the first seven books (or at least the first one) to really understand this one. It felt like I had started reading in the middle of a story, like I was already supposed to know Tashi and whatever land he's from, his friend Jack, Jack's dad, and all of Tashi's previous adventures. I might read the other books, or at least the first, to see if that really is the case. Still, a cute story for adults and exciting story for kids.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tashi is a book series that I was a huge fan of during my childhood. It was good fun to reread and revisit the incredible world that Anna (and Barbara) Fienberg have created.
I'd highly recommend this series to anyone with young children, but you really need to start at the beginning to get the full impact and understanding of the stories.

[Gabrielle.woodlands · Rating 5 out of 5]

great

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am glad I got to read Tashi and the dancing shoes because that book is awesome! I really like Tashi books.

[WSL Library]

x2

[Mikayla B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very good book for 7-11 yrs and takes you on an amazing and breathtaking adventure.