Juliet Sampson (text) and Katrina Fisher (illustrator), Cato’s Can Can, Ford Street Publishing, August 2021, 32 pp., RRP $16.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781925804768
This romp of a picture book is about a bopping cocky in search of a dance partner. The text showcases all of Cato’s potential partners, in human and matching bird form, who strut their moves before mysteriously disappearing.
While there’s lots to learn here – different dance styles, birds, and the days of the week – the movement in the watercolour illustrations matched with the bouncing text also make it delightful fun. I can imagine kids trying out the different dances and chiming in with the repetition of the inciting verbs – bop, bop, bop, snap, snap, snap, tap, tap, tap, etc.
The mystery at the heart of the story is solved when Cato discovers the missing dancers in a dance studio, struts inside and performs the can can. Under the instructions of the dance teacher, everyone then learns the can can.
Highly recommended for pre-school up.
Reviewed by Heather Gallagher
