Shai and Emmie dance their way into a new adventure!

Shai and Emmie Star in Dancy Pants!, by Quvenzhané Wallis with Nancy Ohlin/Illustrated by Sharee Miller, (Jan. 2018, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers), $15.99, ISBN: 9781481458856

Recommended for readers 6-9

This is Academy Award-nominated actress Quvenzhané Wallis’ second outing in her Shai & Emmie series. This time, the two third graders and their friend Rio are getting ready to strut their stuff for a dance competition – but Shai’s frenemy, Gabby, decides to make things more competitive by challenging Shai to a bet: whoever’s team “wins” will bring the other a cupcake every day for a whole month. Shai’s determined to win, but Emmie and Rio don’t even know they’ve been sucked into this bet, so when Shai becomes a taskmaster about practice, things get a little interesting. Can the friends work it all out?

This is an enjoyable series for kids ready to graduate from simple chapter books and easy readers – Jasmine Toguchi readers, the Ivy and Bean audience, and Whoopi Goldberg’s Sugar Plum Fairies fans will dive right in. Shai has supportive, loving parents and a big family, with siblings and pets aplenty; there’s always something going on in Shai’s bustling world. Her group of friends are diverse, as illustrated in the black and white illustrations throughout. This is a highly readable series for newly confident chapter book readers.

Advertisements Share this:
  • More
Like this:Like Loading... Related