Bear’s Perfect Dance
Written and illustrated by Rachel Tilda Wolf
Reviewed by Mia Macrossan
Rachel Tilda Wolf is an English children’s book artist, illustrator and writer. Her debut picture book Wolf in the City was published last year.
Bear loves to dance. In our first glimpse of him he is wearing pink ballet slippers, a blue tutu and is putting flowers into a vase on an outside picnic table. He dances all day with or without the slippers and the tutu. When he advertises for a dance partner the woodland animals who respond are somewhat unappealing.
But at the last minute a child appears whose dance is unlike anything he had seen before. They agree to teach each other and invite the woodland animals to join in. ‘It was messy, it was muddlesome, jubilant and joyful’.
The illustrations perfectly capture the joy of dancing, whether on your own or with a group of friends. Here we see how sharing your moves can bring unexpected benefits, such as connection and friendship.
A sweet story celebrating the joy of all kinds of dancing – perfect and imperfect.
