Page, Robin. Shall We Dance? Beach Lane Books, 2023. 978- 1-665-91605-9. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades 2-3.

In her latest work Page describes the intriguing rituals that creatures from across the Animal Kingdom perform to attract a mate. On each page or double page, a description of the courtship behavior for an animal is presented, accompanied by the illustrator’s signature images. The bold text at the top of the page is a simple two to three word sentence, like “Crabs wave” and “Newts shimmy.” There also is a paragraph in a smaller font that gives more details about that critter’s particular style of attracting attention. Readers might be surprised to learn that most courtship behaviors involve dance or movement, like the tapping finches, prancing sifakas, and waltzing whales. Page uses Adobe Photoshop to create colorful illustrations on a large scale, which will attract young readers.

THOUGHTS: This is another stunning picture book from the Caldecott honoree, who often collaborated with her late husband Steve Jenkins to produce high quality nonfiction for young readers. This book works as a read aloud and the topic is discussed in a manner appropriate for young children. This is a must-have for all elementary collections. Highly recommended.

591.5 Animals – Habits and Behavior