posted on 21 Dec 2023

Dance with Oti: The Penguin Waltz by Oti Mambuse, illustrated by Samara Hardy

I have to admit that I have never watched ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ but am aware that it is a long running TV show that is hugely popular with people of all ages. My ninety-three year-old mother tells me that it provides a welcome dose of glamour in dreary and troubled times and that it reminds her of her younger days when everyone went to dances to show off and meet people. My nine year-old granddaughter explains that she likes it because it is exciting to look forward to the beautiful costumes and to look back at how the different contestants develop their skills with the flashbacks to the week before.  She also enjoys guessing who will be the winner, plus watching dancers like Oti Mabuse (her favourite kind and funny judge) to be able to dance in amazing high heels!

The South African born author is a renowned international celebrity of the dancing world and so her name will be an effective pull for people browsing for Christmas presents.  This picture book cover is colourful and sparkly with an enthusiastic looking Oti at the centre surrounded by six children dancing. The cover also promises the reader that they will even learn how to dance The Penguin Waltz if they read the story, so who could resist?

The opening pages show us a busy class of happy looking children who are begging Mrs Oti to go outside and play with them in the snow. Once they have put on warm coats and hats and ventured onto the slippery, snowy ground, she shows her class how important it is to walk carefully on this surface and to balance. Once they have gained confidence, they start to talk about and mimic the actions of various animals that live in snowy environments, the funniest of which is definitely the waddling penguin. They all enjoy playing with the snow for a while but eventually a sledging accident causes Ricardo and Gan to crash into one another and they start to feel the bitter cold. Mrs Oti encourages the whole class to warm up by huddling together and planning to learn a new dance. 

Once they are back inside in the warm and revived with hot chocolate, they work out the sequence of waddles and flaps together that, after plenty of practice and refinement, will prove to be the highlight of the school show. But on the day not everything goes quite as smoothly as they hope and, without revealing too much, they have to find a way to make it work. Good teamwork and positivity result in a wonderful performance that is much appreciated by the audience of family and friends. 

On the last page there is a video tutorial and audio link to the music that can apparently be accessed by pointing a smartphone at a QR code. As I am unashamedly old fashioned and anyway do not possess such a device, I preferred to follow the very helpfully illustrated step by step illustrations for The Penguin Waltz on the preceding pages.        

This exuberant picture book is published by Walker Books and can be obtained from your local independent bookshop – who will be glad to order it for you if it is not on their shelves.

     

Karen Argent

December 2023