Review of "A Tail of Twirls" by Once Upon a Dance

​Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)

Do you remember the day when your hobby became your passion?
Do you recall the initial spark that lit that flame?
The moment when you decided that this is what you wanted to do for the rest of your life?

A Tail of Twirls tells the origin story of the cute, charismatic, and cat-tastic dance teacher, Kittina (known as "Kit" in her younger years), previously featured in Ready Set Dance. Both books exist in the whimsical universe of Once Upon a Dance, which advocates for and celebrates the performing arts, particularly ballet and dance!

This is a universe featuring anthropomorphic talking animals, mythical creatures like unicorns, dragons, and trolls, and even a bit of magic from time to time (like the magic mirror in this book)! This phenomenal, fun, imaginative, and uplifting series is one of the mainstays of our contests. Once Upon a Dance, alongside Tuula Pere, have proven to be the most prolific children's book authors to come through the Outstanding Creator Awards, and we're incredibly excited for every new installment and the progress they've made!

A Tail of Twirls is a testament to how far Once Upon a Dance has come as an author brand, featuring several improvements and changes from previous books, key of which are more focused storytelling and character development. Because there's more exclusive focus on Kit and her personal journey, the story itself is easy to follow and flows naturally. The text is also better laid out and more concise than previous books, occurring in blocks that naturally move from left to right, top to bottom throughout the page. This might actually be the least wordy Once Upon a Dance book yet, which gives you a little more incentive to enjoy and appreciate the words that are there rather than being overwhelmed.

That's not to say that there's not a bit of chaos in this book, but it's beautiful chaos. There are little Easter eggs (hidden references) throughout the book including the many diagrams of dance poses and techniques mentioned in previous books like Ready Set Dance. You could make the argument that we're seeing the origin story of not only Teacher/School Director Kittina, but also of all the dance moves she later teaches her students! In fact, by the end of this, Kit promises to share what she's learned and, by extension, her passion for dance.

It's beautiful!
You can really feel that this is how the authors (a mother-daughter team) feel about dance as well. It's a gift to give the world! It's something that changed their lives for the better, and they want to share it with others!

They've made probably dozens of books on dance, and it's sobering to think about all the love, passion, and commitment that goes into that.

We've only barely touched on the story, huh? Well, the story follows Kit, a curious little cat who stumbles upon a mysterious dance studio one moonlit night. After discovering posters and a talking mirror, Kit begins to mimic ballet movements and, with the mirror's encouragement, starts her journey into dance. As she returns night after night to learn pliés, tendus, and eventually passés, Kit blossoms from an unsure observer into a confident, twirling ballerina. Though the studio vanishes briefly, Kit embraces her newfound joy and identity, ultimately receiving a key and a title: Kittina Ballerina, School Director, ready to share her love of dance with others.

What's really special about this is that it shines a light on how you can be successful at something (and passionate about something) regardless of your starting point. You don't need to come from a long pedigree of dancers. You don't need anything fancy. You don't need to be super athletic or super fit. You don't even need a ton of money. You just need a willingness to learn and try. Kit is an extremely relatable character in this because she's like a lot of us, someone who is still struggling to find her identity and way in life.

We said something similar when we reviewed Ballerina Wisdom (also by Once Upon a Dance), but a lot of us see or think of teachers, gurus, experts, and professionals and think that they were always teachers, gurus, experts, and professionals—people who know everything and can do anything. The truth is, they had to start somewhere too (just like us). Kit/Kittina had to start somewhere too, not as an expert or professional, but as a student with very little knowledge, skill, or experience. However, she became knowledgeable, skillful, and experienced through practice, dedication, hard work, and a willingness to learn.

That's really special!

Ballerina K (Ballerina Konora) also makes her highly anticipated return in this book! And she's terrific as always. Ballerina K has been one of our favorite aspects of these books—bringing a very relatable and human element to these texts. She's also elegant, beautiful, and charismatic. Her positive energy is contagious. To top it off, she's someone of experience who walks the talk—she performs these moves and techniques on stage, and is incredibly proficient at them. In other words, she's a great role-model!

At the same time, in previous books, it did seem slightly distracting that so much of the page was taken up by Ballerina K's dance recommendations and instructions. This book makes the interesting change of making Ballerina K's sections slightly smaller (maybe about 15%-20% of each page), or at least it seemed that way. On one hand, it's fortunate because we could focus on the story and the characters more; on the other hand, it's unfortunate because beautiful, talented Ballerina Konora and her sections seem smaller.

A lot of effort was clearly taken in the professional photography of Ballerina K's scenes, who got dressed up in the most elegant and regal of magenta-pink tutus! She looks like a princess!

By the way, the instructions Ballerina K gives are actually quite helpful. For example, she uses analogies like, "Imagine squeezing a ball between your ankles" and "paint the air... with your imaginary paintbrush." The text of these instructions could probably be made to stand out more, possibly bolding them?

We're really torn about how to handle and balance the story, characters, and dance instructions. For all we know, Once Upon a Dance is pulling off that balance better than anyone!

Stella Maris's illustrations are whimsical, soft, and expressive—evoking the charm of classic storybooks. Each page blends rich purples, golds, and starlight to create a dreamlike world that feels magical yet cozy. The brush textures resemble watercolor and gouache, creating soft, blended edges and atmospheric depth. The illustrator uses warm pastels & magical tones with dominant hues including lavender, peach, coral, and gold—evoking warmth, softness, and enchantment. There is an aspect of this art style that washes a lot of the action out (sorta like a cloud or dream filter over a base image), but it's not overly distracting or detracting, and it's objectively beautiful, fitting with the dreamlike, imaginative presentation of the book.

Check it out on Amazon!