Alo, Marisa: Gina the Dancing Queen.

** ALO, Marisa Gina the Dancing Queen Windy Hollow, 2009 unpaged $24.95 ISBN 9781921136542 SCIS 1416040

Gina is a giraffe who wants to dance because she loves music so much. Unfortunately, she is clumsy and tends to fall over her feet. This continues to be a problem for her until she goes to a dance school. The book then details the dances that Gina learns--ballet, salsa, and the belly dance. When she next goes to a dance, she is the star of the floor.

Marisa Alo is clearly very enthusiastic about her subject but the story seems to make the acquisition of dance skills seem rather too easy. Perhaps it might have been better to concentrate on Gina perfecting one dance genre, rather than three.

There are touches of humour, such as the belly dance teacher being a hippopotamus. However, although the illustrations extend the written text on such occasions, they generally simply reflect it, rather than provide an additional text in themselves. The anthropomorphised dancing animals may well appeal to small readers.

** Book by an Australian author or illustrator