Happy New Year everyone. I'm not one for resolutions (or keeping them), but this year I've decided to take the 2012 Nonfiction Picture Book reading challenge. Founded by Alyson Beecher of Kit Lit Frenzy and co-hosted by The Nonfiction Detectives, this challenge is to get more people reading and talking about kids nonfiction picture books. What could be bad about that?Various bloggers and people with GoodReads shelves can read and review nonfiction books. If they sign up with Kit Lit Frenzy or The Nonfiction Detectives, those reviews will also be published once a week throughout the year. It's a way to get the word out about a lot of great books. And a place to find out about a lot of great books.
So once a month when I post, I will also include a short review of a book. Part of my personal challenge is that I'm going to try to alert people to some of the new books coming out in 2012. Since it's January 9th and I haven't had a change to find any 2012 candidates, I'm going to recommend a book that I think is timeless--Dance by Bill T. Jones and photographed by our own I.N.K. colleague Susan Kuklin.In Dance, Kuklin photographed Jones against white backdrop so he is all we see as he stretches, curls, leaps and floats through the air. His expressive body and a spare lyric text celebrate the joy of movement.
Consider the child who gets to see hear the following words brought to life by pictures of Jones' beautiful movements:
When I am dancing,
I am thinking
and I am feeling.
When I am dancing
I am everywhere,
and I am hardly there.
When I am dancing,
I am everyone,
and I am only one.
I want to dance.
This book gives children the words to describe and understand how they feel when they move. What a gift.
Stupidly, shamefully, this book is out of print. I can only hope Jones and Kuklin got the rights back. And that you can find it in your library.
