Do It Your Way! Zuri Ray Tries Ballet by Tami Charles

 

ZURI RAY LOVED TRYING EXTRAORDINARY THINGS, ANYTHING BUT ORDINARY THINGS.

With Jessie, her BFFD (Best Friend from Diapers), she has taken on snorkeling, science experiments, ghost-hunting, and being detectives. They always take turns choosing what to do next. This time it's Jessie's turn and she chooses a week at Ballet Camp. She takes to the tutu, the pirouette, and the jete' right away.

But ballet is a bust for Zuri. The tight chignon hurts her head, the tutu is scratchy, and her slippered feet slide on the floor, and she finds herself, not en pointe, but en derriere!

It's an embarrassment for Zuri, who fancies herself a soccer star. When she arrives at home, she declares . . .

"I QUIT! IT'S TOO HARD FOR ME!"

But big sister Remi reminds Zuri what her family always says.

"WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE RAYS GET TOUGHER!"

Zuri realizes that she can't let her family down. But the next day finds her still doing a pas de deux with the floor even more. She tells the teacher that she just can't move like the other little would-be ballerinas.

And her teacher tells her something that gives her a new way to look at the chasse' and plie'!

"DANCING IS ALL ABOUT IMAGINATION."

And when Zuri shows up for class the next day in her soccer uniform, she performs the high kicks her way, in Tami Charles' Zuri Ray Tries Ballet (Quill/HarperCollins, 2021).

It's different strokes for different folks, in a sweet story of friendship honored while being true to self. Author Tami Charles shows adventurous little friends who are willing to remain open about trying out new things while seeking their own "thing." Illustrator Sharon Sordo handles this difficult transition for the two Best Friends Forever as they navigate their first major disagreement with warmth, understanding, and humor, and pictures the importance of support from a loving family.

Says School Library Journal, "Young elementary-age readers will adore the vividly animated characters and feel encouraged by Zuri Ray and her example of finding compassion for herself and practicing honesty in friendship. A wonderful addition to any collection."

To Find A Friend: My Friend Hedgehog: The Story of Us by Lauren Castillo

<There was a series of events that brought us together

Between the great forests, in the center of a river, on a teeny, tiny island, lived two dear friends, Hedgehog and Mutty. Life was good. Until the night of the Terrible Storm. A wind swooped down and carried Hedgehog's friend away. Hedgehog is alone.

The next morning Hedgehog knows that she must find her stuffed dog friend. She bravely dives into the stormy river and makes the difficult swim to the other side. There she entered the deep forest. It was scary, but she had to find Mutty. Very tired, Hedgehog finds a pile of not-too-wet leaves to rest in, but when she lies down... she feels herself falling, down, down into a hole.

It was Mole's Hole. "Bonjour, Dearie!" said Mole.

At first Hedgehog just sobs, but Mole seems so kindly that finally she is able to explain. "I lost my friend," she whimpered. Mole understands loneliness, and takes her to Owl for advice. Owl gets the drift immediately and offers to use his sharp eyes to help her find her friend. Hedgehog draws Owl a picture of Mutty, and Owl takes them downstream to see if Mutty has washed up at Beaver's dam. And Hedgehog recognizes Mutty's red scarf that Beaver is just tying around his neck at a jaunty angle.

"I found it! Look how dapper I am!" Beaver says, possessively.

Wisely, Owl compliments Beaver on his appearance and asks where he found the scarf. Beaver leads them to the marshy area where Hen and her chicks live and find her happily collecting the flotsam and jetsam of the storm which she calls her treasures! And there, along with pizza boxes and bottles and a soggy red notebook is a photograph--a photo of Mutty in front of a strange house. Hen is happy to show them the way to the place she found the photo--so long as she gets to keep the picture and the notebook. With her chicks trailing and peeping behind, Hen leads them up Tall Hill to a tall house, where a girl named Annika Mae is busy taking pictures of everything, including them, with her new Polaroid camera. Owl explains that they are searching for Hedgehog's friend, and shows Annika the photo of Mutty.

"My Polaroid!" Annika Mae cries. "His name is not Polaroid. It's Mutty!" said Hedgehog. "He's your dog? Does he have a chocolate brown stitched nose?" Annika Mae asks. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out ... MUTTY!

Hedgehog has her old friend back and some new friends and many more adventures ahead, in Lauren Castillo's latest, Our Friend Hedgehog: The Story of Us (Alfred A. Knopf, 2020). In a cozy little chapter book of an only child, a stuffed animal, and whimsical animal friends written with all the warmth and gentle humor of A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, this latest one by the Caldecott-winning author-illustrator is a delightful addition to any bookshelf, home or library. Every character, right down to the bouncy chicks, are skillfully delineated with personalities of their own, and this story of friendships found in the midst of adventure makes this a lively read-aloud book for lower grades and an amusing and exciting early chapter book for primary readers, all in the spirit of Kenneth Grahame's classic The Wind in the Willows (Sterling Illustrated Classics). Says Kirkus Reviews in their starred review, "An outstanding new chapter book with the cozy feel of a classic.”