My Mama Had A Dancing Heart (Orchard Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Libba Gray (Author), Raul Colon (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Orchard Paperbacks

"In spring, summer, fall and winter, a mother leads her young daughter in dancing a celebratory ballet, a hymn to the season. When the girl is older, she is a ballerina and remembers that her mother gave her a dancing heart.... [An] exuberant celebration of dance." - School Library Journal, starred review

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gray's (Small Green Snake) narrator shares a melodic remembrance of her mother, who welcomed each season with boundless enthusiasm-and bade her daughter to do the same: "Bless the world/ it feels like/ a tip-tapping/ song-singing/ finger-snapping/ kind of day. / Let's celebrate." The two danced barefoot in the spring rain, ran through the summer surf with balloons and kites tied to their wrists, performed a "leaf-kicking/ leg-lifting/ hand-clapping/ hello autumn ballet," and lay on the ground to make snow angels in winter. Shifting to the present tense, the girl-now a ballerina-notes how these memories serve as inspiration as she leaps across the stage. Though her imagery tends toward the precious, Gray has crafted a genuinely affectionate, personal tribute to someone who embraced life wholeheartedly. Colon (Always My Dad) contributes sophisticated, inventively textured art, rendered in an intriguing combination of watercolor washes, etching, and colored and litho pencils. The pictures gracefully convey the chronic motion described in Gray's text; their muted, earth-toned colors lend a nostalgic feel. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-In spring, summer, fall and winter, a mother leads her young daughter in dancing a celebratory ballet, a hymn to the season. When the girl is older, she is a ballerina and remembers that her mother gave her a dancing heart. Gray writes with her trademark hyphenated, onomatopoetic descriptions. In the winter, they are like "galoshes-galumphing" snowmen, and in the fall, Gray describes the "eye-blinking blue air" and the "leaf-kicking leg-lifting hand-clapping hello autumn ballet." The end of the story is sentimental and perhaps nostalgic beyond children's understanding. But what is clear is that the daughter credits her mother with her joy of movement. Also special is the closeness the two share whether sipping hot tea or cutting out paper snowflakes. Colon's etched watercolors in earth and muted jewel tones give the book an old-fashioned ambiance. Purples, roses, rusts, and greens are textured from the etching and the shading with color pencils, and the technique lends a sense of motion to the paintings, as does Colon's depiction of the dancers with their arched backs, kicking legs, and outstretched arms. Gray's writing lends itself to reading aloud, but independent readers will also enjoy it. Pair this with one of Patricia Lee Gauch's "Tanya" books (Philomel), which exhibit the same joy in movement, or with Shimmy Shake Earthquake (Little, 1992), a collection that is written with the same exuberant celebration of dance.
Cheri Estes, Detroit Country Day School Middle School, Beverly Hills, MI
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531071421
• ISBN-13: 978-0531071427
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.2 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #274,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Arts & Music > Performing Arts > Dance
  • #63 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Arts & Music > Performing Arts > Fiction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My five year old loves this book!, March 14, 2002

By 

Kari Thomas (Canton, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Mama Had A Dancing Heart (Orchard Paperbacks) (Paperback)

I have a five year old blind daughter who loves this book. We read it every night at bedtime, sometimes 2 or 3 times before she falls asleep. She cant see the pictures but she loves the combination of words. "With a grin and a giggle, a hug and a whistle, we'd slap our knees and mama would say, Bless the world, It feel like a tip-tapping, song-singing, finger-snapping kind of day. Let's Celebrate!" And so we did. I love this book as much as she does, And I love to hear her recite it to me word for word. If your thinking about buying this book, think no more. You wont be dissapointed with My Mama Had A Dancing Heart.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent picture book for all, November 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: My Mama Had A Dancing Heart (Hardcover)

Melodic memories touch a young ballerina's heart as she recalls dancing with her mother through the seasons, stopping for sassafras tea in spring and hot cocoa in winter. Together, author Libba Moore Gray and illustrator Raul Colon mesmerize readers with rhythmic text and surreal paintings, setting the dancing mood. Tip-tapping, plash-splashing, and squish-squashing are the musical words Gray plays for ears, engaging listeners and giving the text a natural flow. Text separated from illustrations allows for appreciative rather than overwhelmed eyes. The text and illustrations follow a seasonal pattern, making the story predictable. Colon effectively portrays the ballerina's fond childhood memories by combining watercolor, colored pencils, and etching, creating a distinctive texture, while his use of cool colors and light hues accentuate the mother-daughter bond. With a white background border for each painting, illustrations resemble a photo album. Reaslistic characters in action result from the incorportated use of curved line and shape. Continutity in artistic elements reflects the serene tone and allows for natural movement from page to page. Share this mother's dancing heart with young listeners. This picture book warms the heart and will be enjoyed by all readers.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lilting story, May 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: My Mama Had A Dancing Heart (Orchard Paperbacks) (Paperback)

I first bought this book because I was fond of the author. Reading it the first time to my daughters' first-grade class, I cried. The author, Libba Moore Gray, perfectly captures the dance of the changing seasons and how the mother and daughter celebrate. After I finished the book that first time, a very rough-and-tumble boy asked, "Is that book poetry?" Of course it is! The best kind: the kind that reaches children.