Dancing - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 2?Alex is unhappy with his new baby brother, so he slams out of the house and sticks out his tongue at the stars. When his dad joins him on the front steps, Alex suggests that they send the baby back. Dad, however, pulls out a pink slip and explains that they can't?they've already paid for him. The man then sings a loving song that links the boy and his new sibling to the moon, which shares the sky with the stars (and, in particular, with a rising star featuring an infant's face): "They'll be dancing forever/through all the heavens,/dancing forever and ever." Then parent and child dance beneath the starry sky. Cazet skillfully evokes a warm father-son relationship through both text and watercolor illustrations. The youngster's emotions?anger, jealousy, insecurity?are readily apparent from the first time readers see his small figure dwarfed by an immense, star-filled firmament. Dad reassures him that he is still loved, that he will always be a part of the family, and even suggests that he will grow to love the new baby. A lovely book to share with children facing a new family addition.?Marilyn Taniguchi, Santa Monica Public Library, CA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A disappointing offering, Cazet's ("I'm Not Sleepy") slight, sentimental story focuses on Alex, a boy disgusted by his noisy newborn sibling. "Maybe we can send the baby back to the hospital," he suggests to his father. But Father shows the boy a slip of pink paper and answers, "Paid in full... we own him." The man turns his son's attention to music that is playing, saying "I think this song is about you." As Father sings Alex some wishy-washy lyrics?"Maybe the moon/ knows just how you feel,/ sharing the night/ with the stars./ They'll be dancing forever/ through all the heavens, / dancing forever and ever"?a bizarre series of illustrations show a night sky populated by an oversized star with the face of a baby and a fat full moon with an adult physiognomy. Alex then asks his father to dance with him, and the man picks him up and vows that he will catch him if he falls ("'Always?' asked Alex. 'Always,' says his father. Always"). Craig Bond wrote a score for the song, which is reproduced at the book's end. Ages 3-6.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.