My Mama Had A Dancing Heart

Why didn't I love this beautiful book? And why are almost all of the reviews by teachers or wannabe teachers? And what would children think of it? I don't know... I'd like some of my GR friends who read picture-books to read & review this....

My Mama Had a Dancing Heart was a very enlightening book. It tells the story of a girl and her mother and how the mother served as her role model. The main message in this book is tradition and remembrance. The reasons why I liked this book was the pictures and the plot. The pictures were very dark and the illustrator did a great job mixing the colors and creating a texture. For example, the dresses looked like they were flowing in the wind. I also liked the plot because their dancing was a way to celebrate each season. Also their dance was a bond between mother and daughter and that bond was so special to each of them. Overall I liked this book but it was not one of my favorites.

I enjoyed the adventuresome trip with these ladies through life's simple and special bonding times. I loved the vivid verbs and word play int he text as well as the illustrations.

A tribute to a girl's mother, who had a dancing heart and passed on a love of life and dance to her daughter. Told with a lilting rhythmic beat and great word combinations: "We'd dance a frog-hopping, leaf-growing, flower-opening, hello spring ballet."

This heartwarming story is told using internal rhyme that occasionally pops up in a picture book format. It is about the bond between mother and daughter, and how that bond helps to shape the daughter as she grows up. Through the beautifully illustrated color pictures, we see the closeness between them as they dance and live out the seasons together, and we get to see the daughter growing up until at the last she becomes a ballerina, due to her mother’s influence. We get to view special moments between them, as the daughter remembers wax-paper pressing leaves and drinking spiced hot tea during winter. The illustrations help to create a warm, intimate ambiance throughout the book and tell the story of a carefree, joyous mother and her show more loving daughter. Girls will love this book. Ages 2 – 8. show less

This book would be good for 1st and 2nd graders. In this book, a mother and daughter embrace each season through the power of dance. The time they spend together is truely rewarding in the end is an inspiration to the young ballerina while she is dancing on stage. The words through the book are fun and rhythmic and the vibrant watercolor illustraions convey a sense of calming and bring the whole story to life.

Captured by her mother's infectious love of dance, a young girl joyously follows her mother in a dance through the seasons.