May 25th is National Tap Dance Day

May 25th is National Tap Dance Day
Here are some dancing books to enjoy.

Prancing Dancing Lily
by Marsha Diane Arnold and pictures by John Manders

The other cows are concerned that all Lily does is prance and dance, and this can be very distracting when they all line up to go into the barn for milking. None of the cows look forward to the day when Lily will lead the line. So one day Lily decides to go find a place where she will fit in as she dances and prances. First, she goes to a square dance, but she writes home to tell the other cows that it is not where she fits. She also tries out as a dancer for the Radio City Music Hall in New York City and on board a cruise ship, but she does not feel that either place is a good fit for her. Soon she travels all over the world, but she is still unable to find a place to fit in. Then on a small island in the Caribbean, Lily learns a dance that will help her keep the cows in line back home. What do you think that dance is? Do you think the other cows will like it?



















Meet the Dancers: From Ballet, Broadway, and Beyond
by Amy Nathan

This nonfiction book is about many different kinds of famous dancers, how they decided they wanted to dance, what training they had to become dancers, and the kind of dancing that they do. There are pictures of the dancers taken while they are dancing and also a picture from when they were children. Becoming a dancer takes a lot of hard work, and each dancer shares how much work they have put into their dancing, and there is also a sample of their schedule, so you can see how much work it takes to put on the shows that they perform in. At the end of the book, there is a glossary with definitions of many different types of dancing or dancing terms.



















Fritz Danced the Fandango
by Alicia Potter and illustrated by Ethan Long

Fritz is one of the few goats that know the fandango. He dances the fandango all over the place. The other goats like to make fun of Fritz’s fandango, and he decides that he would much rather be with a herd that did like to dance the fandango. So he sets off to find this new herd. On his journey he meets a sheep named Liesl who does not dance the fandango, but she does like to yodel. She comes with him on his search. Fritz and Liesl soon meet Gerhard, a dog who plays the glockenspiel. Gerhard joins them on their search. Fritz cannot find another goat who can dance at all, and soon he goes off to be sad by himself. Then he hears dancing, and what do you think that he found? Did he find a new herd that can also dance?















Dancing Granny
by Elizabeth Winthrop and illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca

One night a granddaughter invites her grandmother to go to the zoo, but her grandmother is already ready for bed and does not want to go. The little girl tells her grandmother that the animals are getting ready for her at the zoo, and she gets her grandmother ready to go. At the zoo, the animals are ready to party. Her grandmother has a lot of fun dancing with the animals, and each animal does a different dance with granny. Will her grandmother enjoy the party and the dancing? Will she want to return?

Gardens

Grow: A Novel in Verse
by Juanita Havill and illustrated by Stanislawa Kodman

Kate’s Aunt Berneetha wants to start a community garden on an empty lot, and Kate is very excited to be helping her aunt out. They start out by clearing the lot, and then get to work making the rows to plant in. One young man soon joins them in the garden, and then a local doctor donates some tomato plants. Little by little more and more people start working in the garden. Then the city council decides to have a meeting to discuss rezoning the area, and that will end up causing a parking garage to be built where their garden is. Aunt Berneetha decides to fight this decision to sell the land and make it a parking garage, and she needs the help of others in the neighborhood to change the minds of the people who want the parking lot. Will they be able to stop the garden from being destroyed? Can they change the councilors’ and the old owner son’s mind about building the parking garage?

Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden
by Edith Pattou and illustrated by Tricia Tusa

Mrs. Spitzer is a teacher, and every year, the principal gives her a packet of seeds to help grow. Mrs. Spitzer plans her schedule and makes sure she has the tools she needs to help those seeds grow. Mrs. Spitzer takes very good care of her garden by planting the seeds in a good place, watering them, helping them get plenty of sun, and protecting them from weeds and pests. Different plants need different things, and Mrs. Spitzer works hard to make sure that every plant gets the attention that it needs. She continues to care for her garden as the seasons change. Then comes the time that her job is over, but those plants will continue to grow on and on. Next year, Mrs. Spitzer will be ready for some new seeds to grow into plants. What do you think are like those plants? What do teachers usually help make grow?

Rose’s Garden
by Peter H. Reynolds

Rose has traveled all over the world in her teapot, and she has collected seeds from all over so she can remember where she got them. When her teapot became full of seeds, Rose decides to plant a garden. When she comes to a big city by the ocean, she decides to take a look around before planting her garden. While exploring, she found a place in the city that was empty, and she thought that it needed some color. Rose got the soil ready for planting her seeds, but when she got back to her teapot, she found that the birds had eaten most of the seeds. She took the few that were left and planted them, but nothing seemed to come of it. Will Rose’s Garden grow from those seeds she planted? Can she make that empty lot beautiful like she wanted to?

Garden Crafts for Kids: 50 Great Reasons to Get Your Hands Dirty
by Diane Rhoades

This nonfiction book is about starting a garden and taking care of it. There are chapters on how to begin growing a garden, how to design a garden, how to care for it, some easy to grow vegetables and flowers, and seven projects that you can use your garden for. There is also a chapter on how to take of your garden during the months when there are no plants. The projects include creating a bean tepee, making toilet-paper seed tape, creating garden markers, making topiary, making a seed caddy, and some cupcake recipes that you can cook using vegetables, fruits, and flowers from your garden. There is even a recipe to create your own homemade bug spray!

Mother Goose

Wee Sing Mother Goose
by Pamela Conn Beall and Susan Hagen Nipp

This is both the book and CD of Mother Goose rhymes that you can sing along with. There are 71 rhymes and each rhyme has the words and the musical notes, and there are also additional verses to the songs that you may or may not be familiar with. Each rhyme also has a little picture of an animal acting out the rhyme. The CD is one hour long.

Mother Goose Unplucked: Crazy Comics, Zany Activities, Nutty Facts, & Other Twisted Takes on Childhood Favorites
by Helaine Becker and illustrated by Claudia Davila

Within this book are fairy tales and rhymes that are retold in some very interesting ways, and there are some activities that are tale and rhyme themed that you can attempt with your friends, such as “Kiss the Frog” where you are blindfolded and have to kiss the frog (where you kiss the frog determines how many points you receive). There are also some recipes, riddles, comics, jokes and plenty of different kinds of games and activities to try. At the very end of the book, there is a “What’s Your Fairy Tale Personality?” Quiz where you can answer the questions to find out what fairy tale character you would be.

The Neat Line: Scribbling Through Mother Goose
by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrated by Diana Cain Bluthenthal

There once was a baby scribble that great into a “neat line.” Then one day the neat line decided to go into a real book and chose Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes. The line talks to the characters of the rhymes, but the rhyme is also there. When Little Boy Blue loses the sheep, the line turns into a trumpet that helps bring them back. Then the line becomes a path that leads to the well for Jack and Jill so that they don’t go rolling back down the hill. The line also helps in Mary’s garden and Little Miss Muffet with her spider problem. Then the line becomes the Man in the Moon and calls it a night.

Mary Engelbreit’s Mother Goose: One Hundred Best-Loved Verses

Mary Engelbreit has chosen one hundred of her favorite Mother Goose rhymes and illustrated them. She starts with the Mother Goose rhyme, and the illustrations that she drew to go with the rhymes are very detailed, colorful, and beautiful.

May is National Photo Month

May is National Photo Month

The Kid’s Guide to Digital Photography: How to Shoot, Save, Play With, & Print Your Digital Photos
by Jenni Bidner

This is a nonfiction book that focuses on digital photography, and has information on camera basics, how to take pictures, some software that can be used to work with digital photographs, printing the photographs, and ideas for projects or presents. There is a chapter that discusses different types of digital cameras in order to decide which will work best. There is also a chapter on figuring out how to take the best photographs that you can with suggestions on angles and backgrounds. At the end of the book is a glossary.














Photography
by Alan Buckingham

This nonfiction book covers all aspects of photography from the camera obscura created during the Renaissance to the digital camera and camera phones of today. There are many pictures of the cameras themselves and photographs that were taken with the camera being discussed. The book also discusses different parts of photography, such as studios, color, movement, film, and developing film. There are also some pages about extreme photography, photography taken of space, and underwater photography. At the end of the book, there is a timeline and a list of museums of photography.
















Photographer Mole
by Dennis Haseley and illustrated by Juli Kangas

Mole was a photographer that enjoyed taking portraits. He always took photographs of important events. He was often invited to dinner where he would tell stories about the pictures he had taken. All the pictures he had taken hung in the homes of those he had photographed, but Mole felt that something was missing. He did not know what it was, but it was making him unhappy. Then one day, Mole decided that he needed to go away and find what was missing in his pictures. While Mole is gone, he is missed at dinners. He continues to send them photographs, but he did not seem to find what he was missing. Will Mole be able to find what is missing in his photographs? Will he make it back home again?
















Smile!
by Geraldine McCaughrean

A photographer is involved in a plane crash, but he survives with only a Polaroid camera. Flash is found by a group of people that have never been to a city, and they have no idea what camera or photographs are. After taking a picture of a couple of children, the people are in awe of the little box that can capture moments in time. There are many things of which the people want photographs taken, such as their new cow and warriors. However, Flash only has nine pictures left, and he lets them decide what the photographs should be. Flash is happy that he could introduce photography to this group of people. He also starts trying to lend a hand in the work, but he finds it hard to locate a place in the group where he could be useful. After a feast is given to celebrate the food that they have gathered, Flash is happy to be able to capture these moments that the people will be able to enjoy latter, even if future harvests do not go as well. How will Flash use the rest of the photographs that he has left? Will he be able to get back home?