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Library | Audience | Home Location | Material Type | Shelf Number | Status |
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Summary
Summary
Before going to sleep, Mabel creeps downstairs to join her parents as they dance at their party.
Author Notes
Children's book author Amy Hest was born in New York City and grew up on Long Island. Before becoming a full-time author, she worked as a children's librarian in the New York Public Library system and in the children's book publishing industry. She has written over thirty children's books, many of which included family and intergenerational themes. She is a three-time winner of the Christopher Medal and a winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-On the night of a party, Mama dresses up, Papa puts on his dancing shoes, and together they lovingly tuck Mabel into bed. But the child does not want to be alone in the night and the music floating up the stairs proves too great a temptation to be resisted. And so, she dances down, her blanket "-like a yellow cape in the wind"-"one, two, three-shhh, two, three-spin, two, three" past the guests and right into the arms of her proud parents. After an encore with Mama and Papa, the sleepy, satisfied little girl can finally go to bed. Hest's lyrical language describes a child's longing to be included in the grown-ups' world. The text is perfectly complemented by Davenier's whimsical watercolor-and-ink illustrations that capture the movement and gaiety of the evening.-Doris Gebel, Northport-East Northport Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Davenier's (Very Best [Almost] Friends) wispy watercolors portray a Fred Astaire world that may be far removed from the experience of most children but is no less inviting. Young Mabel's joie de vivre as she spins and twirls through these pages is infectious, and Hest's (Jessie Came Across the Sea) lilting text brims with small details that ground the book in a child's experience. Mabel's parents put her to bed before the guests arrive for the "dancing party" the couple is hosting, but "the music had a way of floating up the stairs/ one, two, three/ one, two, three/ up and up the stairs." Mabel and her dog eventually creep to the landing to watch the swirling dancers below ("swirl, two, three/ swoosh, two three"), and with her blanket cape, Mabel performs her own enthusiastic waltz step to the applause of the guests. Her parents carry her back to bed, where she soon drifts off to sleep. Mabel's insouciant joy and her triumph in the adult world are hard to resist. Ages 4-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Unable to sleep as the music from her parents' dance party floats up the stairs to her bedroom, Mabel comes down to join the dancing. After the guests applaud, her parents dance her back to bed in a satisfying, sleepy conclusion. Calm, rhythmic prose combined with swirly, muted watercolor and ink illustrations establish the story's mood and capture Mabel's lively spirit. From HORN BOOK Fall 2000, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Picture Mabel, bubble-bathed and lovingly tucked into bed. Now picture Mabel arising, drawn to the star-filled window, then counting her toes (ten) by the bedevilment of the sounds of a waltz--"one, two, three, one, two, three"--rising up the stairs from Mama and Papa's dancing party below. What's a girl to do? Grab her yellow blanket, get her dog, and sit on the staircase to watch, of course. And if a girl can't contain herself, she dances down the stairs, spins in her red nightgown, whirls in her yellow cape, and everybody applauds, even Papa and Mama, who pick her up to dance a three-person, four-legged waltz before taking her back upstairs to tuck her in again. Girl and dog fall asleep, still hearing the music. Hest's (Off to School, Baby Duck, not reviewed, etc.) little Mabel is one great reason for parents to have dancing parties. Davenier's (Low-Down Laundry Line Blues, 1999, etc.) ethereal watercolors match the poetry of the text and the spirit of the evening. Together, Hest and Davenier present a new look at a familiar childhood yearning. Delightful. (Picture book. 4-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
