Dance with Oti: The Bird Jive

by Oti Mabuse, Samara Hardy (Illustrator)

Slide to the right! Kick to the left! Join the class and learn the steps to the Bird Jive in this buoyant book by a winner of the top British TV dance show.

It’s time for Mrs. Oti’s class, where everyone’s about to learn a dance in ten easy steps! There are lots of children, and lots of feelings, too. Meet Fikile in her sparkly new shoes, and Naira, who is super excited to get started. Gan is a little worried about joining in, while Martin can’t wait to show his parents what he can do. Everyone’s getting into the groove (with just a few missteps) when suddenly an unexpected visitor disrupts the class—one whose fluttery movements give Mrs. Oti an idea. With a warm, upbeat text from a two-time winner of the hit British TV show Strictly Come Dancing and bright, child-friendly illustrations, this picture book debut will dance into the hands of families everywhere who love to move. As an extra treat, there’s a QR code at the end enabling readers to watch a step-by-step tutorial and listen to the “Bird Jive” song. Here we go!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 27, 2021

About the author

Oti Mabuse is a professional dancer, choreographer, presenter, and actress known for her star quality on BBC’s hit shows Strictly Come Dancing, whose top award she won in 2019 and 2020, and Oti’s Boogie Beebies. Born in South Africa, she has been dancing since the age of four. Dance with Oti: The Bird Jive is her debut picture book. She lives in London.

Reviews

[Stace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Reviewed on www.whisperingstories.com

Dance with Oti is a young children’s picture book written by professional dancer Oti Mabuse. The story is about teaching children how to do the jive, as well as being about a group of children who have come to Oti’s dance class and have a few problems and how polite and kind Oti is at helping them when they can’t follow the dance moves, fall over, go the wrong way, etc. She lifts their confidence.

The book is a lot of fun. The dance moves are easy to follow throughout the story, plus there is a recap at the end and even a QR code to scan so you can watch the dance. I didn’t think it would be that easy to follow dance moves in a book rather than on screen, however, they were well-illustrated and explained, plus the dance is quite a simple one.

Talking of the illustrations, these are bright, colourful, full-page, and showcase Oti and her class of children perfectly. There is so much to look at on each page.

I love how diverse the book is alongside having a mix of boys and girls plus confident children and those who are shy. I can see the readers following the dance moves, kicking their legs, wafting their hands, and twisting their middle, all whilst having a lot of fun.

Dance with Oti is a delightful book, one that I am hopeful children and their parents/guardians will enjoy reading together. It’s not really a bedtime story due to the dance moves, but one that can be enjoyed throughout the day.

My tiny reservation about the book is that it comes in ebook format too and picture books don’t tend to work well on a Kindle, especially a normal one (not a Fire), as they lack colour. So if you are going to purchase a copy, I would suggest getting a physical copy over an ebook.

[Jasmine from How Useful It Is · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for my toddler's bedtime. This book teaches readers how to dance the Jive step-by-step. The teacher, Mrs. Oti teaches each step and many students follow. Some students has trouble keeping up to the music but Mrs. Oti is patience and encouraging. There were good teamwork when one student forgot what step comes up next. Readers will learn each students' name. The illustrations are great. Good diversity. A fun read. A surprise appears somewhere in the book to change the title of this book to dancing the bird jive!

Thank you Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read and review!

[Cat Strawberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a fun picture book which can help teach children to dance The Bird Jive! All of the children are lined up outside of Mrs Oti’s class. When they start the class, Mrs Oti teaches them step by step the different moves of the dance. Some of the children end up struggling but Mrs Oti’s class is so fun that none of them is upset or worried for long. ‘Dance with Oti’ is a little bigger than A4 in size and is a hardback that’s filled with thick glossy pages of colourful illustrations and text. The book’s cover features some lovely glittery parts too.

As the children start to learn the steps to dance The Bird Jive, some of them make mistakes, however the class is full of fun and happiness as Mrs Oti shows the kids that it’s ok to make mistakes and gets them back into enjoying the dancing. Throughout the pages Mrs Oti is shown giving the steps for how to dance the Bird Jive with clear and simple instructions that children reading the book can follow and do. I like how these instructions are mixed in among a story of the different children learning the dance and some of the experiences they have are ones that children reading the book might feel when the first try to dance.

There ‘s a nice and fun ending and at the end of the story there is a double page showing all of the moves to perform the Bird Jive so children can learn all the dance moves without having to turn back through the story. The illustrations are really fun with some lovely bright colours and I love how engaging they are and how expressive all of the class looks. I especially like the last pages that feature some of the parents of the children taking the dance class. The dance moves are illustrated well and there is some interesting brief text at the end of the book explaining where the Bird Jive first originated.

I do think this is a fun book. While the story is very simple and fun, it’s the book’s dance moves that make this so appealing. The fact that children can learn to dance the Bird Jive and then perform it for their own parents just makes this seem like such a fun book, and with a professional (and famous) dancer Oti Mabuse having written it, it makes for a great read! I hope there might be more dances for kids to learn in future books.
-Thanks to Walker Books for a free copy for review.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lively illustrations and simple dance moves will make this debut your go-to classroom or library read-aloud. It’s the first day of dance class and the opening spread reveals mixed emotions throughout. Some children look excited, but others look a little nervous and unsure of what to expect. Nervousness slips away as Mrs. Oti guides her students (and us readers!) through a warm-up and step-by-step dance moves. Fikile gets distracted, and Mrs. Oti encourages her to try again. Gan forgets which way to go, but Martin steps up by saying “Follow me.” Mrs. Oti recognizes the move and praises their teamwork. Poppy can’t keep up, so Mrs. Oti teaches her how to listen to the music and feel the beat. Suddenly, a bird flies into the dance studio, and Mrs. Oti frees it only to use the inspiration to add a new dance move. Olivia falls, and Mrs. Oti encourages her by saying “Up you go…Style it out and make it look cool!.” In the end, all the families join the fun to watch their children perform the Bird Jive. Even the bird returns with family and friends to join in the fun.

Dance with Oti: The Bird Jive has interaction at its core. Readers will want to jump up and try the moves as they are taught to Mrs. Oti’s students. More importantly, readers will learn that it is okay to make mistakes and that we all learn at our own pace and in our own way. Mrs. Oti is an exemplary teacher who stresses the growth mindset that is particularly important in any setting.

5 STARS - STAR RECOMMENDED (PreK-3):
The fast pace of the text and the rapid movement inspired by bright illustrations make it easy to miss a few segments of text. However, this is a story that is meant for celebration. Diverse students and their family members show that anyone can learn and can have fun in the process. Subtleties in the illustrations reveal that one student uses a leg brace and another uses a hearing aid. Backmatter includes an introduction to the author and information about the origin of the Jive. Includes a QR code and website link to a video with the song and dance as well as activity sheets.

Thank you to the publisher who provided a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

We were looking forward to reading Dance With Oti and from the cover the children couldn't wait to start reading it but sadly we lost interest in the book about half way. The story shows a dance lesson with a group of children learning the bird jive but at one point the class gets disrupted by an unexpected guest.

The idea of this book is great and we love interactive books as they keep the children more engaged in the read. The way the book has dance moves spread throughout the book is a clever idea as it allows the children to join in during the story and feel like they're part of the lesson too but they got bored quite quickly.

The illustrations in the book are colourful and lots of fun to look at but with the story lacking and it being a lot of they did this next and they did that with not a lot of chance to get to know the characters the children's attention was lost however nice the pictures may be.

I think this is a great idea for a book but with the writing style we didn't enjoy it too much and we found it too long and repetitive which is a shame as we had hoped we would have enjoyed this book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A multicultural group of children are taking a dance class with British TV star Oti Mabuse. When a bird flies into the studio, the Jive dance lesson turns into the Bird Jive! Will the parents love their performance?

AJ loved this fun dance class! With clear directions and an engaging twist, she wanted to dance along while she was reading along. Comes with a QR code that takes the reader to a video of Oti doing the Bird Jive to an original song. Suddenly this is perfect for the whole class! Oti Mabuse is South African.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story about a kids' dance class. Includes simple instructions to dance along and a qr code to access the music and other resources. Encouraging text and bright illustrations. Great jumping off point for further movement and exploration. (Also includes creativity and innovation when a bird flies into the studio)

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Melanie Gaum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I accessed digital review copies of this book through NetGalley and Edelweiss.