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Today is a most exciting day for the young female main character in this colorful children’s picture book. After a year of learning and practicing all the steps for her dance routine, the recital is finally here. She will dress in her pretty costume, with stage make-up and hair done just right and a “headpiece of blue,” as she performs confidently on the big stage. She’s danced this routine at least a hundred times, and as she now reviews it in her mind, she is excited to show her dance teachers that she paid attention in “each and every class.” Friends and family arrive to watch the show with pride. Though her “tummy is tingly” and her body a bit warm, as the big performance is about to begin, she knows there’s nothing to fear. Filled with joy and dancing all around, she is congratulated with thunderous applause after her big finale.
Author Leonardi-Kramer, who spent fifty years in the dance world and has taught dance to generations of students, has created here a lively, bright, and inspirational children’s picture book. With attractive, full-bleed illustrations of eye-catching color and movement on each and every page, her book delivers joy as it delights the senses. The enthusiasm and love for dance, which the young protagonist in these pages exudes, is contagious from the very start. Children might easily identify with the bit of nervous energy—the butterflies in the stomach—which the young dancer experiences moments before her big show, yet, as is pointed out in the story, there really is nothing at all to be afraid of. She knows her dance routine inside and out and has practiced well and learned so much from her teachers. In the end, she shines, as does this delightful picture book.