#365PictureBooks 38. Kakapo Dance by Helen Taylor

Taylor, H. (2014). Kakapo Dance. Auckland, New Zealand: Puffin.

ISBN: 9780143506010
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6
Genre: Picture Storybook / NZ Fiction
Rating: 5 stars

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I love Helen Taylor's illustrations!  They are so bright and realistic it is as if the birds will just step off the page into your lap.  Stunning! 


In Kakapo Dance Taylor tells the story of all the birds in the bush trying to get Kakapo to join in their singing and dancing.  But Kakapo CAN'T Dance!  And so it carries on through the book with each consecutive bird trying to entice poor Kakapo to dance.

The rhyme and story remind me of My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes by Eve Sutton & Lynley Dodd.  Or maybe The Twelve Days of Christmas.  As each bird tries to tempt Kakapo to sing and dance their line of rhyme is added to the previous so that you repeat each line as you get down to Kakapo's refrain ... 

But Kakapo DON'T sing or dance,

we're just not made that way!

With lots of repetition and a catchy rhyme this book is full of language that will teach children about the movement and sounds the birds of our New Zealand bush make.  The font has been coloured so that the motion and noise words are done in a way that links to the bird it is talking about - Teal for the Kereru, Navy Blue for the Pukeko, and bright Emerald Green for the Kakapo. 

As I mentioned before, Taylor's illustrations are just stunning.  They are bright.  They are bold.  They are so realistic.  A true and beautiful depiction of our native birds.

I just want to keep re-reading it!   It is a lovely addition to your collection of fun rhyming stories.  A great read aloud.  And fantastic for when classes are doing artwork and need an image or photo of one of our beautiful birds.

I got my copy of Kakapo Dance from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.