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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Picture Books for Dance Class, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 13 of 13
1. Read & Romp Roundup -- March 2013
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 4/15/2013
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Spring, Read and Romp Roundup, Picture Books for Yoga Class, Picture Books for Dance Class, Poems for Creative Movement, Add a tag

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the roundup in March. I think this is our largest one yet! Once again we have a great mix of dance, yoga, and general movement submissions...plus a poem! There's a little something for everyone, so I hope you enjoy hopping around to read the different posts.


At Playing by the Book, Zoe has embraced the color pink and made the wordless picture book Flora and the Flamingo a family affair! Read her post to learn more about this new book by Molly Idle. You can also see how Zoe and her two daughters celebrated its dance-related story of friendship and found some creative activities to go along with the book.

Early childhood dance educator Becca Beck shares the poem "The Goldilocks Song," which is perfect for incorporating into creative movement and pre-ballet classes...or for enjoying at home! Hear how she uses it to explore the concept of making shapes bigger and smaller with her students.

Gail at Yoga Kiddos with Gailee tells us how she uses the picture book Z is for Moose, by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinksi, in her yoga classes for kids. The funny alphabet book, which involves a fame-hungry moose who will do anything to be included in the book, lends itself well to acting out yoga animal poses.


Amy from Picture-Book-a-Day is back with a review of Ellen Stoll Walsh's Hop Jump. Read her post to learn more about this picture book about a frog who gets bored of hopping and jumping and decides to add dance to her repertoire. As usual, Amy is also full of creative ideas to go along with the book, including making origami hopping frogs!

At OMazing Kids, Angela shares a Dr. Seuss alphabet extravaganza for kid's yoga and early literacy. Her post is packed full of yoga, literacy, music, art, prop, and game ideas to go along with book Dr. Seuss's ABC. Because Angela is a huge fan of Dr. Seuss, she also includes links to other posts that combine his books with yoga.

In a second post at OMazing Kids, Angela uses the classic Eric Carle book The Very Hungry Caterpillar to celebrate the start of spring. Her full lesson plan -- including yoga poses, a music playlist, and a mindfulness activity with real fruit -- are all included!


Reshama from Stacking Books reviews the picture book Goal! by Mina Javaherbin and A.G. Ford. With kicking, dribbling, and running, this book is full of movement! Set in South Africa, the book is also a good introduction to a different culture and to the concept of bullying.

The new dance, craft, and storybook Crafterina has a blog! This post provides an introduction to Crafterina and provides guidance on how to best take advantage of all aspects of the book. You can also learn more at www.crafterina.com.

At ABCs of Reading, Jayne uses the picture book Cindy Moo by Lori Mortensen and Jack Mack to teach the comprehension strategy of questioning and to get kids "moo-ving." Inspired by the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle," Cindy Moo sets out to show her friends that cows really can jump over the moon. Read Jayne's post for her movement ideas!

Author and dance educator Connie Bergstein Dow contributes to the blog PreK + K Sharing, where she has created a carrot seed dance story based on the classic book The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss and Crockett Johnson. Learn more about Connie, who regularly uses movement as a learning tool, at movingislearning.com.

6 Comments on Read & Romp Roundup -- March 2013, last added: 4/17/2013
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2. Are You Having a Polar Bear Morning?
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 4/1/2013
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Lauren Thompson, Stephen Savage, Maria's Movers, Picture Books for Dance Class, Follow the Leader, Polar Bear Night, Polar Bear Morning, Friendship, Add a tag

Read It. Move It. Share It. 
Each month I recommend a picture book for dance educator Maria Hanley to use in her creative movement classes in New York, and then we both share our experiences with the book. Polar Bear Morning by Lauren Thompson and Stephen Savage was our March pick. Read more about it here, and then hop over to Maria's Movers to see how Maria used the book with her students!


We don't get much snow where I live, but we did happen to have the most beautiful snow of the season just a couple weeks ago. I was initially worried about choosing another wintery book for my monthly collaboration with Maria, but I'm not feeling so bad anymore since so many of us had our fair share of cold "polar bear" mornings in March. 

Polar Bear Morning, written by Lauren Thompson with pictures by Stephen Savage, was published in January of this year by Scholastic Press. In the spirit of winter, the book's text is quite "cool" and calming, as is the color palette of gray, blue, and white with an occasional splash of orange, brown, or red.

The book's theme and structure remind me in some ways of the picture book Fluff and Billy, which Maria and I featured on our blogs in February. Both books are about friendship -- the friendship of two penguins in Fluff and Billy and of two polar bear cubs in Polar Bear Morning. Both also involve some follow-the-leader behavior as the sets of friends scamper and play in the snow. 

The language in the two books, however, is very different. Fluff and Billy is told in a very direct way, with few words. Polar Bear Morning provides much more description, detail, and imagery...

The morning is chill and bright.
From her cozy den, a polar bear cub peeks out 
at the snow and ice and clear blue sky. 

The little bear hears the seagull's faraway call.
She sees the sparkling snow. 
She clambers out into the day.

The imagery in the book is what makes it a good choice for creative movement in my mind. Even in the opening lines, words like "cozy" and "sparkling" and "clambers" make me want to move in new and interesting ways. I hope they inspire others to move in new ways, too. I realize that small children might not know the meaning of words like "clamber" yet, but it's never to early to learn, right?

Another element of the book that might inspire movement is the reappearance of the seagulls, which are introduced in the book's opening lines. The gulls "call" out several times during the book, almost like they are asking the bear cubs to follow them. This makes me think that it would be fun to experiment with different sounds and how students respond to them in movement. In other words, what do the different sounds ask them to do? 

In many ways the book also lends itself well to partner dances. As I mentioned earlier, the polar bears do a lot of movements using a follow-the-leader format. But the illustrations also show them doing some movements together, especially at the end of the book when they really solidify their friendship. 

So many options for this book! Let's find out here which one Maria chose. And if you like Polar Bear Morning, you should also check out its award-winning companion Polar Bear Night -- another great choice for a creative movement class!

2 Comments on Are You Having a Polar Bear Morning?, last added: 4/11/2013
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3. Follow the Leader with Fluff and Billy
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 2/28/2013
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Maria's Movers, Fluff and Billy, Maria Hanley, Nicola Killen, Picture Books for Dance Class, Friendship, Winter, Snow, Add a tag

Read It. Move It. Share It. 
Each month I recommend a picture book for dance educator Maria Hanley to use in her creative movement classes in New York, and then we both share our experiences with the book. Our February book was Fluff and Billy by Nicola Killen. When you're done reading about the book here on my blog, stop by Maria's Movers to see what kind of movement it can inspire!


When my girls were younger, they really liked to play follow the leader, and I sometimes used this to my advantage. At bedtime, I could usually get them to go upstairs for bed if I did some super silly moves going up our staircase and asked them to follow along.

Fluff and Billy, published a few months ago by Sterling Children's Books, is a book about friendship and overcoming disagreements. But what made me think it would be a great book for creative movement classes is that the text and illustrations also inspire a good game of follow the leader!

"I'm climbing up!" said Fluff.
"I'm climbing up!" said Billy. 

"I'm sliding down!" said Fluff. 
"I'm sliding down!" said Billy.

Fluff''s a little bigger than Billy, and he's the one who seems to be the leader. When he climbs and slides, Bill follows along. When he screams, swims, splashes, runs, and jumps, Billy follows along again. But, when Fluff decides to roll a snowball, Billy doesn't quite follow along. Billy decides to throw the snowball at Fluff, and it hits Fluff hard enough to knock him down.

Just like when young friends or siblings play together a lot of the time and then have a fight, Fluff and Billy don't talk to each other for a while -- or at least for a few spreads of the book! Eventually, though, they make up and the book ends on a happy note.

The illustrations of Fluff and Billy are darling, and I love the simplicity of the color palette that was used to create them -- shades of black and gray for their bodies and and orangish red for their beaks and feet. The backgrounds on every page of the book are a mix of white, blue, and yellow. I love books that use unique fonts, and this book does that, too.

If you want to see a few of the spreads from the book, you can see them here on Nicola Killen's website. And if you're curious to see whether Maria played a game of follow the leader with her young students this month, I hope you'll check out her post here.

My girls are six and eight now, and I haven't tried follow the leader with them in a while. They are actually getting pretty good at going upstairs on their own and at least getting the bedtime process started. It might be fun to surprise them with another game of follow the leader up the staircase one of these days, though. And I might even have to follow it up with a reading of this delightful book!

0 Comments on Follow the Leader with Fluff and Billy as of 2/28/2013 9:27:00 AM
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4. Mouse's First Snow Melts My Heart
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 2/1/2013
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Snow, Lauren Thompson, Picture Books about Winter, Maria's Movers, Buket Erdogen, Picture Books for Dance Class, Mouse's First Snow, Add a tag

Read It. Move It. Share It. 
Every month I recommend a picture book for dance educator Maria Hanley to use in her creative movement classes in New York, and then we both share our experiences with the book. Our January book was Mouse's First Snow by Lauren Thompson and Buket Erdogan. Don't forget to stop by Maria's Movers to see how Maria used the book in her classes! 


When my girls were really young, the Mouse's First books by Lauren Thompson and Buket Erdogan -- including Mouse's First Snow -- were some of my favorites. I loved the simplicity of the writing by Thompson, who has since become an author I like to follow. I even recommended another book from the Mouse's First series -- Mouse's First Fall -- to Maria during our collaboration last year.

So now that I've gushed about Lauren Thompson, I have to tell you that what really drew me to the Mouse's First series were the adorable illustrations by Erdogan. I love their simplicity and whimsy. I love that the mice look so at home against the soft colors in the backgrounds that cover each page from top to bottom. And I love that you can see strong connections between Mouse and the other characters in the books through their body language alone. In Mouse's First Snow, it is Mouse and Poppa who share that special bond...

One bright, white winter day, Mouse and Poppa went out to play!
"Let's go sledding!" said Poppa. 
Whoosh, swoosh! Poppa slid down the hill. 
I can do that too! thought Mouse. 
Pliff! ploof! Mouse slid down the hill too. 
"Good for you!" said Poppa.

These first few pages set up the story's structure, which repeats itself about five times in the book. Poppa has an idea for a snow activity -- and usually one that involves movement and sound! He tries it out, and then Mouse tries it out. After each activity, Papa shares some words of encouragement for Mouse. It's very sweet. The pair go ice skating, make snow angels, and even make a snowy surprise together at the end of the book. (If you look at the cover of the book, you might be able to guess what the surprise is!)

I can't wait to see how Maria used the book in her classes and to see if she he used it with her mommy or daddy and me classes or with older children. And do you think she had the kids do all of the movements in the book? Or did she make up her own winter activities? Let's find out here.

I found this YouTube video of a library story time with Mouse's First Snow. Enjoy the story and seeing the gorgeous illustrations up close!

3 Comments on Mouse's First Snow Melts My Heart, last added: 2/2/2013
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5. Holiday Bop with "The Hanukkah Hop"
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 12/31/2012
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Hanukkah, Creative Movement, Erica Silverman, Steven D'Amico, Maria's Movers, Picture Books for Dance Class, The Hanukkah Hop, Add a tag

Read It. Move It. Share It. 
With so many holidays to celebrate this month, I chose a holiday book -- The Hanukkah Hop -- for dance educator Maria Hanley to use as part of our monthly collaboration. Because I know Maria teaches many of her classes at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, I thought this would be the perfect book for her to try out in December. When you finish reading this post, you can hop on over to her blog, Maria's Movers, to read how her classes went!


I love that my kindergartner and second grader came home from school this month with projects celebrating so many different holidays. There were holiday word searches, gingerbread houses, a Kwanzaa coloring book, and even a hand-made dreidel!

Bookstores this month were also full of holiday books, including many new ones that were highlighted in a recent article from the Horn Book. If you happen to be looking for Hanukkah books in particular, Margo at The Fourth Musketeer also blogged this month about some of her favorites. I was happy to see The Hanukkah Hop, by Erica Silverman (author) and Steven D'Amico (illustrator), on her list. I bought my copy last year when the book was published, but I did notice that it was on the shelves at the stores again this year.

In the beginning of the book, young Rachel and her family are preparing to host a "Hanukkah Hop" for their extended family -- grandparents, nieces and nephews, great-aunts, second cousins, and friends from near and far. Rachel is getting the streamers ready, Daddy is blowing up balloons, and Mommy is making latkes. As the guests arrive, the party really starts, with plenty of dancing and a traditional Jewish band as a special guest...

The front door opens...
"Yah! Our special guests are here."
And carrying their instruments --
the klezmer band appears!

"Biddy-biddy bim-bom bim-bom bop."
Now we can get stomping at our Hanukkah Hop!"

As the dance party continues, readers will also learn what a menorah is, how to play with dreidels, and the history of Hanukkah -- all to the infectious beat of the text, broken up from time to time by the "biddy biddy him-bom bim-bom bop" refrain. Not all of the rhyme in the book is perfect, but you hardly notice because of the festive nature of the rhythm and of the illustrations, which are full of color, movement, and fine details that will make the book seem fresh on repeat readings.

The book also provides plenty of inspiration for movement. Rachel spins like a dreidel, streamers fall to the ground, balloons pop, and guests wiggle and hop. They also swing, sway, dive, and jump as they enjoy the music of the night. To find out if Maria incorporated any of these elements into her dance classes, you can read her post here.

Near the end of the book, Daddy starts cleaning up dishes, guests start snoozing, and Mommy looks for pillows and blankets to make the sleepy guests more comfortable. And then there is Rachel -- still energized by the music, joy, and spirit of the holiday season and not quite ready to hang up her dancing shoes!

"Biddy-biddy bim-bom bim-bom bop. 
I'm the only one still dancing at our Hanukkah Hop!"


Whether you celebrated Kwanzaa, Christmas, Hanukkah, or none of the above this month, there's still one holiday left that everyone can celebrate together -- New Year's Eve! Hope you fit some great music and lots of dancing into your evening tonight. Wishing you and yours a wonderful start to the new year. Happy holidays!!

0 Comments on Holiday Bop with "The Hanukkah Hop" as of 12/31/2012 12:31:00 PM
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6. Art Imitating Life in "Balancing Act"
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 12/10/2012
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Balancing Act, Creative Movement, Maria's Movers, Picture Books for Dance Class, Ellen Stoll Walsh, Add a tag

Read It. Move It. Share It. 
Every month, I recommend a picture book for dance educator Maria Hanley to use in her creative movement classes in New York, and then we both share our experiences with the book. In November, I recommended Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh. After you read my post about the book, don't forget to stop by Maria's blog, Maria's Movers, to find out her movement ideas!


Has it really been almost a month since I last posted? Wow! This is not the first time I have gone several weeks without blogging, but every time it happens I am amazed how quickly the time has gone by. And every time it happens, it is usually for the same reason.

Yes, I admit that time gets away with me sometimes, and then I have trouble balancing work, family, writing, dancing, blogging... Life really is a balancing act, and a very delicate one I must add. Spend just a little too much time or energy on one aspect of life, and you might have to make some changes to get back on track. Well, the book I picked for our November collaboration -- Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh -- is all about balancing, too...but on a teeter-totter!

The mice made a teeter-totter.
It was fun to balance...
one mouse on each end. 
Ta-da!
But then a salamander wanted a turn. 
Hmmm...

From this excerpt, you may be getting an idea of where this book is headed. Well, the salamander jumps onto one end of the teeter-totter, and that end of the teeter-totter drops to the ground. Oh, but then another salamander hops onto the other end of the teeter-totter, and everything is perfectly balanced again. But wait! Now a frog wants a turn! This continues on for a while until it starts getting a little bit harder to balance the teeter-totter, like when a big heavy bird wants to join in!

I thought this book could be fun for teaching balance, or for giving little ones a chance to practice coming up with creative solutions to a problem. It will be fun to see what Maria decided to do with the book in her classes. You can find out here.

The illustrations for the book are just as delightful as the simple story line. Created with paper cut-outs, the teeter-totter and the animal characters stand out against a white background on every page. And the characters are colorful, yet slightly muted. A perfect "balance" of the two...

I couldn't find a website for Ellen Stoll Walsh, but I found this really neat Pinterest page with links to more of her picture books and some fun artistic and educational ideas to go with them. Enjoy!

0 Comments on Art Imitating Life in "Balancing Act" as of 12/10/2012 1:03:00 PM
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7. Into the Outdoors: A Plethora of Prepositions!
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 9/4/2012
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Picture Books for Dance Class, Prepositions, Camping, Susan Gal, Maria's Movers, Maria Hanley, Into the Outdoors, Add a tag

Read It. Move It. Share It. 
Dance educator Maria Hanley and I explored Into the Outdoors as the August picture book in our monthly collaboration. Its unique blend of two themes -- camping and prepositions -- makes it a one-of-a-kind book for sure. And it's also a fun one to incorporate into dance classes for young children. After you read this post, you can see how Maria used it with her young dancers here.


When I was growing up, a few times every summer my family would lug our camper behind our car into the forests of Pennsylvania, where we would spend a few nights out in the wilderness with friends. Hiking, canoeing, playing in the creek, making fires, roasting marshmallows, and watching wildlife -- particularly chipmunks, deer, raccoons, and the occasional black bear! -- are all wonderful memories I have from my childhood.

Nowadays, once or twice a year my husband, our two daughters, and I head out into the Maryland woods, pitch a tent, and spend a few nights in the great outdoors as well. We haven't taken the girls hiking or canoeing yet and haven't seen quite as many animals as I did growing up, but hopefully we'll get there one day.

How about you? Do you have any special camping memories? Would you be interested in a picture book about camping? Or, although this may seem a little off topic, might you be interested in a book about prepositions? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then I just might have the book for you!

In Into the Outdoors by Susan Gal, a family of four fill their car to the brim and leave the city to go camping in the mountains. Over the course of the book, the family partakes in many of the same same activities I did as a child. They go for a hike, they play in a stream, they build a fire and roast marshmallows, and they climb into their tent at night.

Throughout the day, the family also sees tons and tons of wildlife. Although they saw many of the same animals I usually see when I go camping, they saw a few others, too. Like a fox, a porcupine, and a moose! As you may be realizing, the story line of this book is quite simple. But, what makes the story so unique is its superfluous use of prepositions!

Alongside each other, we dream our dreams, 
beside the lake and beneath the moon, 
outside in the great outdoors.

I counted the prepositions in the book, and I came up with 19, all printed in yellow text to stand out from the otherwise white wording in the book. Almost all of the prepositions -- including across, along, around, behind, beneath, beside, over, through, up, and under -- would be great to introduce to a dance class. The youngest children might not know all of their meanings, but the illustrations can help show them. Plus, several of the prepositions are used more than once, giving the children extra opportunities to practice their meanings.

If I were teaching a dance class with this book, I think I'd set up a really neat obstacle course using as many of the prepositions as the kids could remember. Or, since there are so many prepositions, maybe I would use the book for a couple weeks and make a few different courses. Are you curious too see how Maria used the book? Let's see here!

If you're looking for other ideas for teaching prepositions, We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury is another picture book I recommend. Maria and I featured it around this time last year. Here's that post.

1 Comments on Into the Outdoors: A Plethora of Prepositions!, last added: 9/20/2012
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8. Read & Romp Roundup -- July 2012
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 8/10/2012
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  All the World, Read and Romp Roundup, Picture Books for Yoga Class, Picture Books for Dance Class, Yawning Yoga, This Jazz Man, Be a at Ballet, ABC Menagerie, Prima the Ballerina, Add a tag

It's that time again. Time to pull together all the great blog posts that were submitted for last month's Read & Romp Roundup. Thanks so much to everyone who contributed. I think we have another really great roundup!

Maria from Maria's Movers introduces readers to Prima the Ballerina in Her Backyard -- an interactive book by professional dancers Nikki and Ethan White. The book can be used as a lesson plan for teaching movement to children and is the first in a planned series!


At Flowering Minds, Darshana reviews Yawning Yoga, written by children's yoga specialist Laurie Jordan with illustrations by Aaron Randy. Full of yoga poses to release energy and relaxation exercises to calm the mind, this book can help young children slow down for bed!


Angela at OMazing Kids shares one of her new favorite ABC books to incorporate into yoga classes for kids. ABC Menagerie contains an animal and rhyme for each letter of the alphabet, plus what Angela describes as "quirky felt animal structures" as illustrations. A great book to accompany animal poses!


The "OMazing" Angela also shares an updated list of 222 picture books she thinks would be good choices to use in children's yoga classes. Wow! Plus, she reports that she is working on a separate list of children's books designed specifically to teach yoga and mindfulness. Can't wait to see it!


Amy at Picture-Book-a-Day is reviewing a different picture book every day this year. Lucky for us, she reviewed two dance-related books in July! The first is Bea at Ballet by Rachel Isadora. "If your child is starting ballet class soon, this is the perfect book to introduce them to the format and conventions of class," says Amy.


The second book Amy reviews is This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt and R.G. Roth. Written to the tune of the classic children's song "This Old Man," the book celebrates the lives and music of 10 jazz legends. One of those legends -- who made music with his feet! -- is tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. In her post, Amy also recommends some activities and other books to go along with this fun and jazzy book!


Deanna at Little Namaste Yoga posts about All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee. In one of her favorite lessons to teach, Deanna uses the book to find new "places" for her students to explore. As the scenes in the book change, Deanna uses yoga, songs, and other sensory activities to enhance the experiences of her young students. 

4 Comments on Read & Romp Roundup -- July 2012, last added: 9/8/2012
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9. Guest Post by Liz Vacco: Silly Sally
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 7/31/2012
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Audrey Wood, Guest Posts, Picture Books for Dance Class, Liz Vacco, Silly Sally, Petite Feet, Add a tag

I have a special treat for you today! Choreographer and performer Liz Vacco is here from sunny California to share how she incorporates a very special -- and very silly! -- picture book into the classes she teaches for young dancers. Incorporating books and other forms of storytelling into her lessons is one of many strategies Liz uses to make dance fun. She has even created an original dance video called Petite Feet that uses storytelling to teach young children the fundamentals of ballet. We have another post in the works about that, so stay tuned! And in the meantime, enjoy getting to know Liz and her "silly" ideas. Thanks for joining us, Liz!

In my experience teaching classes to young children, the word “silly” is a magic word.  If a lesson plan is not quite playing out as successfully as planned, I find a way to make it silly -- or just call it silly, for that matter -- and chances are I have my students’ rapt attention once again. The teaching and learning can still happen, simply disguised in a silly way.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that a book that employs this magic word in its title is a perfect activity for a kids’ dance class. The book to which I’m referring is SillySally by Audrey Wood. The fact that Sally is silly means that she does everything backwards and upside down -- dancing, leaping, singing, you name it! 


When using this book in class, I like to establish a movement or movement phrase with the dancers in a forward direction first. Once they’ve had a chance to try the movement in a forward direction, I challenge them to try it backwards. I encourage the students to explore the backwards movement on their own before offering my own interpretation for them to try, if they so choose. 

Then, in a similar fashion, we proceed to turn the movement upside down. Of course, whatever the young dancers do is valid -- and often extremely inspiring, as they may surprise me with interpretations I have never considered. After the upside down dancing, we combine the two, moving both backwards and upside down -- carefully -- so that we don’t dan

2 Comments on Guest Post by Liz Vacco: Silly Sally, last added: 7/31/2012
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10. Stomp, Dinosaur, Stomp!
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 7/25/2012
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Dinosaurs, Stomp, Creative Movement, Maria's Movers, Creative Dance, Maria Hanley, Picture Books for Dance Class, Margaret Mayo, Alex Ayliffe, Stomp Dinosaur Stomp, Add a tag

Read It. Move It. Share It. 
Today's post is part of my ongoing collaboration with dance educator Maria Hanley from Maria's Movers. Each month I recommend a book for Maria to use in her creative movement classes, and then we both share out experiences with the book. This month we're exploring Stomp, Dinosaur, Stomp! by Margaret Mayo and Alex Ayliffe.


Look at the Tyrannosaurus on that cover! A little scary, don't you think? But don't worry...once you open the book, he's not that scary anymore. In fact, he's pretty harmless, even in the presence of other dinosaurs. Mostly, this Tyrannosaurus just wants to stomp!

Mighty Tyrranosaurus
loved stomp, stomp, stomping, 
gigantic legs striding, enormous jaws opening, 
jagged teeth waiting for guzzle, guzzling!
So stomp, Tyrannosaurus stomp!

As the book continues, we meet an immense Diplodocus, a crested Pteranodon, a fierce Velociraptor, and seven other prehistoric creatures. Like the Tyrranosaurus, each of the creatures has a signature move -- the Diplodocus a swish, the Pteranodon a glide, the Velociraptor a hunt -- plus additional moves that would hopefully inspire young children to come up with some moves of their own.

Although the Tyrranosaurus is mostly absent when we meet these other creatures, he does appear on the page devoted to a tough Ankylosaurus. The signature move of the Ankylosaurus is a whack, and poor Tyrannosaurus is the recipient of one of those whacks! He doesn't look like he minds, though, and this action adds a splash of humor to the already upbeat book. We then see the Tyrannosaurus one more time -- at the end of the book -- when, still stomping, he leads the whole pack of creatures in a dinosaur parade.

Girls and boys -- especially those who love to move -- will appreciate the many movement words in the text. I bet they'll also enjoy the bright illustrations, which take up every corner of every page and, in doing so, exaggerate the exuberance that the text already portrays. Let's see if Maria agrees! You can check out her post here.

2 Comments on Stomp, Dinosaur, Stomp!, last added: 7/25/2012
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11. Artistic Masterpiece: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 5/31/2012
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Maria's Movers, Maria Hanley, Picture Books for Dance Class, Add a tag

Read It. Move It. Share It. 
With spring winding down and summer just around the corner, dance educator Maria Hanley and I are exploring the classic picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by legendary author and illustrator Eric Carle. It's part of our monthly collaboration in which I recommend a picture book for Maria to use in her creative movement classes and then we both share our experiences with the book. 


The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which was published more than 40 years ago, is the first children's book I remember having as a child. When I think about other picture books and board books published around the same time, this one stands out so much in its creative design and universal appeal. 

I may be living in a cocoon of sorts (i.e., my own little world of children's books), but I can't imagine that anyone has not heard of this wonderful book, which tells the story of how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly in such a delightful--and delicious--way. A true artistic masterpiece...at least in my book! 

Just in case I really am living in a cocoon (which is entirely possible) and you haven't heard of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the best way to describe it is to simply "show" it to you. It just so happens that Barnes & Noble is featuring the book on its "Online Storytime" this month. Click here and you can see some of the collage art from the book and hear Eric Carle read the whole story. 

I also found a great video on YouTube of Eric Carle talking about the process of creating the book, the educational themes that run through the book, and the

2 Comments on Artistic Masterpiece: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, last added: 6/2/2012
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12. Who Likes Rain?
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 5/2/2012
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Poetry, Rain, Wong Herbert Yee, Spring, Henry Holt, Christy Ottaviano Books, Creative Movement, Maria's Movers, Picture Books for Dance Class, Summer Days and Nights, Who Likes Rain?, Tracks in the Snow, Add a tag

Read It. Move It. Share It. 
For April, I recommended the picture book Who Likes Rain? for dance educator Maria Hanley Blakemore to use in her creative movement classes in New York City. After you read this post, hop over to Maria's Movers to see how she used the book with her young dancers. You can also read more about our monthly collaboration here.


In April 2007, when my first daughter was a little over two years old, Henry Holt and Company published the rhyming picture book Who Likes Rain? by Wong Herbert Yee. Our local library bought a copy, and I discovered it sometime later that year. Our second daughter grew into a toddler, and for the next couple of years I continued checking the book out from time to time. 

I've always loved books about rain, and this is one of my favorites for toddlers and young preschoolers. It even comes in a small size (about half the size of most picture books) that is perfect for little hands. It's one of those books I would have loved to own, but for some reason I never bought a copy for myself. 

My daughters are a little older now and have moved on to more complex picture books, so it was such a treat to check this book out from the library again in preparation for my post. The first page of my library copy has scribble marks all over it--some in brown crayon and some in black marker. I guess some other toddlers have been enjoying the book, too!
10 Comments on Who Likes Rain?, last added: 5/6/2012
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13. Read & Romp Roundup -- January 2012
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By: Kerry Aradhya, on 2/4/2012
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Katharine Holabird, Read and Romp Roundup, Picture Books about Dance, Picture Books for Yoga Class, Picture Books for Dance Class, Dance, Yoga, Langston Hughes, Lois Ehlert, Add a tag

Here, finally, is the Read & Romp Roundup for January 2012. I was thrilled with the response to my first call for submissions and think we have a great and diverse roundup here. Just what I was hoping for! We have picture books with themes of rhythm and dance, unique ideas for incorporating poetry and picture books into dance and yoga classes, and even a birthday celebration for a beloved author who writes about dance. Hope you enjoy the inaugural roundup!


Amy at Delightful Children's Books shares a list of 10 children's books that entertain, inform, inspire, and broaden children's understanding of dance. Amy also created a YouTube playlist to go along with her post, including performances by Fred Astaire, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and more. 


Wait until you see what Eric from Happy Birthday Author did to celebrate author Katherine Holab

10 Comments on Read & Romp Roundup -- January 2012, last added: 2/6/2012
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