Review of “Ready Set Dance” by Once Upon a Dance

Score: 94+/100 (9.4+ out of 10)

Ready Set Dance is another adorable, fun-filled children's book by Once Upon a Dance, illustrated by Stella Maris!

The book features and follows several animal characters during their very first day of dance school!

Doing anything for the very first time can be intimidating and even scary!
Maybe it's swimming or riding a bike. Maybe it's going to the gym. Maybe it's going to dance class like these characters.

Maybe you think that you're not in shape enough.
Maybe you think that you're not skilled enough.
Maybe you think that everyone will laugh at you or that you'll be scolded for not doing well.

The truth is that those are rarely valid reasons for not trying!

And, let's face it, we all had to start somewhere. Even the best weren't born with the ability to do flips and tricks. No, they had to learn to crawl, stand, walk, and run the same as everyone else—the same as you!

And, who knows? Maybe you'll be surprised. Maybe there'll be others who are trying it for the first time just like you!

Those are a few of the realizations that the characters in this book come to. And those are some great lessons to take with you!

So, who are these bright, colorful, adorable, and adventurous animal characters? Well, this cast is led by Bella Beak and Quinn Hops, a chicken and a frog, respectively. It does kinda help that the creators of the book used colors (including in the text) to help readers, especially young children, to distinguish between the different characters. For example, when Bella (the chicken) is mentioned, Bella's name is in red (similar to the color of a chicken's comb). When Quinn is mentioned, Quinn's name is in green (similar to the color of the frog's skin).

Bella and Quinn experience a lot of the worries and anxieties that a lot of us would have on our first day of dance class. They don't quite feel in-shape, skilled, or knowledgeable enough, but they still want to give it a try.

They are pleasantly surprised to learn that many of the other student-dancers in the class (like Betty the Highland bovine; a sloth, a turtle, a pig, an owl, and a bunny rabbit) are still learning and growing just like they are. They're also pleasantly surprised that their new dance teacher, Kittina the cat, is very welcoming, patient, and understanding. Rather than being pushy and having unrealistic expectations like the protagonists had feared, Kittina guides them through each movement step-by-step, bit-by-bit.

It also helps that Kittina is absolutely adorable and cute, possibly the cutest and most charismatic character in the book. Despite this, Kittina still shows a human side like when the cat gets irritated with the parents in the waiting room for being too loud and interrupting the instruction in the class. Well, that could also be considered cat-like behavior. Apparently, Kittina doesn't teach alone. Kittina is joined by Mrs. Jitterstein, a spider. But don't worry! She's a cute, friendly, and helpful spider like Charlotte from Charlotte's Web.

There are a few really good things about this book. For one, Once Upon a Dance really made an effort to make it engaging, even in the absence of the dance moves typically found in their other books. For example, readers are prompted/invited to show how old they are with a show of fingers. They are also invited to spot/find different things like different articles or pieces of a dancer's clothing (like tights or a leotard).

Another thing that's excellent about this book is that it actually educates young people about different types of dance moves/stances and the aforementioned parts of the uniform. They also learn about different parts of a dance studio like the barre and the mirror, elaborating on what purpose(s) they serve.

Something else that we really, really enjoyed and appreciated about this book are the shenanigans. The little animals are constantly getting themselves mixed up, lost, and buckered out. They soon realize (along with the reader) that dance class isn't always rigid, straightforward, and all about dance. Sometimes, it's a mixed-bag of experiences! Sometimes, one of you might forget your uniform and have to improvise. Sometimes, you might not have the flexibility, height, endurance, or coordination to do things exactly the same way as the person next to you is doing it. You sometimes have to adjust, adapt, and even improvise until you can ease your way in and/or catch up.

It's also just fun to see the animal characters do things like get dressed and eat together. The illustrations by Stella Maris are also some of our favorites in the series, looking a lot like what we saw in Dance Stance. We did miss Ballerina Konora's dance panels, but at the same time realize that this book already had a lot going on and it could've been distracting otherwise. Speaking of a lot going on, a part of us did feel like there was a bit too much going on and that the flow of the book was a little choppy. For example, the scene in which Kittina reprimanded the parents for being too loud—while possibly a familiar situation to the author and possibly an inside-joke—also pulled us away from what was already going on, thus interrupting story flow.

Something different seemed to be happening on every page that didn't quite flow from the last one. However, we eventually realized that this was kinda the point. Not everything is going to go to plan, not in dance class and not in literature. Sometimes, you're going to have random, unexpected things come up. Sometimes, you have to slow down, stop, and start again when one of your students gets lost or confused.

All in all, this book is so much fun!

Check it out on Amazon!