Rupert Can Dance

PreS-Gr 2—Rupert loves to watch Mandy dance all day long. But what the child doesn't know is that when she goes to bed, her quiet ginger cat slips on her dancing shoes and dances the night away. Rupert wants to keep his secret, but one night Mandy wakes up, and Rupert is caught in the act. When she decides to teach him some steps, he hides under the bed ("Cats are not meant for lessons. Cats are free spirits"). Then Mandy understands and cleverly hatches a plan that ends with the two friends joyfully dancing together for years. This story focuses on the relationship between the two characters and celebrates the joy of dancing, alone or with friends. Feiffer has created a compelling, yet concise, sequential narrative that shows the importance of imagination and being flexible. Sets of three consecutive scenes are used several times to focus on a character's emotion or motivation. The mixed-media illustrations feature loose and broad line work that will be familiar to Feiffer's fans. The balance of full-page art and characters dancing against the white space propels the story forward while providing visual variety, and the large size of this book makes it great for group sharing. The main text is large and bold and done in a stylistic font, while Mandy's dialogue is in an easier-to-read font. A first purchase for cat fans and free spirits everywhere.—Amy Seto Musser, Denver Public Library