Luna Loves Dance

Description

Luna Loves Dance

Joseph Coelho and Fiona Lumbers

(Andersen Press)- hardback

Luna Loves Dance. She feels as though ‘the world’s volume turns up, like all colours brighten, like sunlight sparkles behind every cloud’. Thereafter, she approaches her exam – ‘a double- tap-spin/ duck-dive/ twirl- leap‘- positively. After all, she figures, if she can pass this then she’s ‘a real dancer’.

Yet what if it’s a ‘Trip. Fall‘, and again, a ‘Trip. Fall’ before a ‘Trip. Stumble. Fall. Outch’? Could it be that as she watches everyone else ‘double-tap-spin, duck-dive, twirl- leap‘ that all of Luna’s sounds ‘have been muffled‘ and her ‘colours have been dulled’? Although Mum and Dad reassure her, Luna’s convinced she will never be a ‘real dancer’.

 Joseph Coelho and Fiona Lumbers’ stories of Luna’s life are endearing and approachable. It means we can feel Luna’s huge sense of disappointment, alongside the joy she has always felt in dancing. What’s more we understand her parents’ reassurance. Therefore, might a visit to a musical with Mum help? Or could it be that playing Grandpa and Naha’s ‘old jazz records‘ and dancing ‘moves called the Crazy Legs, Charleston and Heels‘ might ignite something? Then again, could these experiences need a little more, to convince Luna that she is a ‘real dancer’?

When she visits Carnival, we are sunburst by colour, movement and sound. However, what about Luna’s legs and feelings? Might it take a little more? Luna Loves Dance is an emotional, active, sunlit, empathetic and beautiful picture book that Bookwagon adores. We recommend this title for bedtime reading, sharing, gifting and loving.