Hilda Must Be Dancing (ISBN-10: 1416950834, Aladdin), a children's picture book by Karma Wilson and Suzanne Watts combines pleasing rhyming text full of onomatopoeia, an interesting problem-solution storyline, and gorgeous eye-popping illustrations in brilliant blues, greens, and pinks, making for a rewarding and fun reading experience.

Hilda is a unique hippo with a great passion for dancing and one BIG problem—gravity! Her friends want her to be happy pursuing her passion, but they find all of the movement creates quite a problem in the jungle.

"And while she danced in utter bliss, it sounded quite a lot like this: Ka-Bump! Ka-Bump! CRASH! CRASH! SMASH!"

And yet, Hilda persists in pursuing her dream of becoming a dancer, until her friends try to convince her to try a less bothersome hobby, like knitting. Through trial, error and persistence, Hilda finally finds the PERFECT expression of her interests.

Read the book to find out what it is! The pleasing combination of rhyming words, dance vocabulary, and humorously detailed illustrations make this a great book for any emergent reader or pre-reader to read with a parent.

The refrain "Hilda Must Be Dancing!" is repeated throughout the text of the story, providing groups of children with an entry point for actively participating in a reading of the book.

Suzanne Watts' brilliantly-colored illustrations greatly enhance this story. Each page finds Hilda twirling and spinning in a different outrageous costume, including disco pants and heart-shaped sunglasses!

Hilda Must Be Dancing is a mid-length story with quite a lot of text. This book probably will not be an appropriate length for young toddlers, but has great appeal for an older preschool crowd.

• Jungle Animals
• Hippos
• Dancing
• Hobbies
• Self-Expression
• Discovering Interests
• Individuality
• Problem-Solution
• Community
• Values - Persistence

Ages 2-3

Even with vivid pictures and repetitive text, this mid-length book may be too long for young toddlers.

Ages 3-5

This book has many thematic elements that will appeal to the 3-5 year-old age group. Some of the dance-related vocabulary will be unfamiliar to the children, but the entertaining story is easy to understand.

Kindergarten (Age 5-6)

Kindergarten teachers may be interested in using this story in themes about individuality, hobbies, trying new things, dancing, or jungle animals.

Emergent Readers

Emergent readers will enjoy reading this book. The repetitive refrain "Hilda must be dancing!" makes this a great confidence-builder.

This children's story is adaptable to several different themed lessons, including "I am Unique," "Dancing," and "Hippos." For example, in a dance-themed lesson, you could emphasize "It doesn't matter how big or small you are, anyone can dance!"

Music and Movement

Music is an essential part of any early-childhood curriculum, whether it be at the local library, in a preschool classroom, or in a small cooperative preschool.

Begin your lesson with the same song you usually begin with. Ours is "If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands."

Have a children's dance video/DVD prepared. Sing along and dance to the images on the screen with the children. Make sure the kids have a little bit of room to dance around.

Transition Idea

Get the children ready to sit still and read. Tell children that we're going to shake out all of our wiggles and giggles.

• Shake your head
• Shake your hands
• Shake your feet
• Shake your nose

Put your hands on your lap, and zip your lips! (Make a zipper motion across your lips. Whisper the last part so children really have to listen to hear what you are saying.)

Read-Aloud

Quickly "pre-read" the story. Show the children the cover. Ask them what type of animal is there. Show them the cover page. Point to Hilda's ballet shoes. Ask what is she doing?

Read the story aloud. (Note that you should practice this at least once, so you don't become tongue-tied).

Children can participate in the reading by saying the refrain with you "Hilda must be dancing!"

At the end of the story, have the children guess the solution before you read the ending. What is Hilda's new hobby going to be? Encourage participation, even if the guesses are silly. Being right isn't that important.

If your children are older than 4 1/2, you may want to read a second story. Knowing your audience's attention span is helpful here.

Craft

Check out Karma Wilson's own web site for teacher helps and craft ideas. She has craft, snack, and companion book suggestions for use with her own books.

Make maracas or other noise makers

• Paper plate maracas.
• Make one of these homemade musical instruments
• Dancing Hippos