Giveaway: The Barefoot Book of Dance Stories

Congratulations to Connie Walsh Brown, who won a copy of this book! Although my giveaway is closed to new entries, I hope you will still enjoy the post.

Welcome to a very special week of "dance stories" here at Picture Books & Pirouettes. Today, and for the rest of the week, I'll be featuring The Barefoot Book of Dance Stories. Thanks to publisher Barefoot Books, I'll also be holding my first giveaway (rules at the end of this post). By this time next week, you could be the lucky winner of this new collection of dance stories from around the world!

To keep the festivities going, on Wednesday I'll be blogging about the companion to Dance Stories (The Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories), which was published back in 2004. And on Friday, I'll be hosting an email interview with the one-and-only Jane Yolen and her talented daughter Heidi Stemple, who worked together to write both books. I am so excited and hope you will join in the fun all week!

A Melting Pot of Nonfiction and Folk

The Barefoot Book of Dance Stories is a collection of eight delightful folktales from eight cultures. Ranging from humorous and lighthearted to a bit more serious, each story has a unique plot and elicits a different emotion from readers. What holds the stories together is the common theme of dance that runs through them.

In one well-known tale from Germany, twelve princesses dance so much that they wear holes in the soles of their shoes. In a tale from Japan, the beauty of a sky maiden's dance bring tears to the eyes of a fisherman. And in another tale, from the Czech Republic, a young peasant girl forgets all of her responsibilities as she dances hand-in-hand with a fairy in the birch woods. Here is a list of all eight stories (and the cultures/dances from which they are derived):

• "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" (Germany/Waltz) 
• "Robe of Feathers" (Japan/Noh Dancing) 
• "Making the Stone Smoke" (West Indies/Limbo) 
• "The Shepherd's Flute" (Spain/Flamenco) 
• "Dancing with the Birch Fairy" (Czech Republic/Polka) 
• "When the Goddess Danced" (Egypt/Belly Dancing) 
• "Tam O'Shanter" (Scotland/Scottish Reels) 
• "The Little Bird Who Went Dancing" (Mali/Malian Dance)

The front matter includes an introduction to each folktale and a brief history of dance from the culture in which the story is set. The back matter contains more specific information about each dance, including a general description, notes on costumes, and even instructions on learning the dance in most cases. The book also comes with a CD, narrated by British actress Juliet Stevenson, in case you prefer to sit back and have the stories read to you as you enjoy the beautiful illustrations by Helen Cann.

Because of its length and the content of its stories, the book is being marketed for children ages 8 and up. However, I must mention that the "up" represents a number at least as high as a preschooler can count. The book is quite magical even for an older child of the world like me.

My Favorite Dance Story

Of all the stories in the book, the one from Mali resonates with me the most. It's a charming tale of a girl, a boy who loves her "as long as the Niger River flows," and how dance eventually brings the two of them together. As with all the stories in the book, I love how large the illustrations are, how much color and vibrancy they bring to the pages, and how effortlessly they are woven throughout the text. Plus, this story reminds me a little of how my husband and I ended up together. I just loved it so much that he could shake those hips out on the dance floor. But I digress...

The Dogon people of Mali (an ethnic group who live south of the Niger River, which flows through West Africa) are known for their mask dances. According to the back matter of Dance Stories, there are more than 80 varieties of masks, which are generally sculpted out of wood. I actually visited Mali several years ago, and I bought a couple of masks at a market there. My three-year-old and five-year-old are modeling them in this photo. I think the masks are Dogon, but I can't be sure.

A Promotion from Barefoot Books

Before I provide the rules for my giveaway, I want to tell you about a new promotion from the book's publisher. Starting today (and running through December), you can visit Barefoot Books on Facebook, share a video or photo of your own little dancer, and enter to win a copy of the book. (A winner will be chosen by random.) Please contact publicity@barefootbooks.com with any questions. 

Rules for My Giveaway

To be entered into my giveaway of The Barefoot Book of Dance Stories, leave a comment on this post or on my upcoming Wednesday post or Friday post. If you leave comments on multiple posts, you will be entered multiple times. However, if you leave more than one comment on a single post, only the first comment will be considered. Next Monday, November 22nd, I will use random.org to generate a winner and will announce the winner in a new post (and in the comments of my posts this week). Good luck!

The Nonfiction Monday round-up is being held at In Need of Chocolate this week. You can find more posts about nonfiction books for kids there...