Dance With Oti: The Lion Samba
£7.00£7.60 (-8%)
Dance yourself happy with the second, samba spectacular picture book by dancing superstar, Oti Mabuse. It’s time for Oti’s dance class! Join Oti and her class for their first dance show, and learn “The Lion Samba” in ten easy steps.
The children are excited to return to dance class with Mrs Oti and waste no time preparing for their animal-themed dance show. Mrs Oti teaches them all about animal movements and how they can be used in their dance. From stomping like an elephant, stretching up high like a giraffe or even shaking your mane like a lion, there’s so much fun to be had. But when disaster strikes on the day of the show, it seems like all of their hard work has been for nothing. Luckily for the children, Mrs Oti is on hand, and soon they realize that a little bit of courage can go a long way.
Written by Strictly Come Dancing superstar, Oti Mabuse, this heartwarming picture book will dance into the hands of families who have loved watching Oti on-screen.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Walker Books (1 Jun. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 32 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1529508762 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1529508765 |
| Reading age | 3 – 7 years |
| Dimensions | 27.2 x 0.2 x 25 cm |
by Strawberry
This is a lovely addition to the Dance with Oti series, this time the children are dancing the Lion Samba and those reading at home can enjoy performing this dance at home after they have read the story. The book is larger than A4 in size and the hardback is filled with thick and glossy pages of colourful illustrations and text, and the cover itself is filled with lovely sparkly details!
Mrs Oti is getting the kids ready to perform in front of their family and the children try all sorts of different dance moves. One special child will be picked to be the lion in the animal show and the lion has to give out a big roar at the end. Umaira is picked by Mrs Oti to be the lion, she’s excited but also nervous. As the children get their costumes ready for the performance, Umaira confides in Mrs Oti that she’s worried she won’t be loud enough, and throughout the story as the children get ready for the dance and then later perform on stage, Umaira has doubts whether she can roar as loud as she needs to.
The story is a simple one but I love how Umaira eventually finds her voice and the whole class dance happily in front of their parents dressed as different animals. Umaira’s story is fun, finding her voice eventually and enjoying herself despite her worries at the start that she wouldn’t be able to do it. I love how the whole class ends up enjoying themselves and how all of the different children get involved enjoying dancing as different animals. The illustrations are what make this book so lovely to look at with each page being delightful and colourful to see. I love the diversity in all of the children that attend Mrs Oti’s class, even showing some of the children having disabilities which on first glance you might not notice, but if you look again they are clearly there, enjoying being a part of the class as much as any of the other kids.
The illustrations are so lovely and really bring alive the story and what is happening. I especially love the details when you see the children’s families getting involved with the performance too. The ending of the story is sweet and I enjoyed how things came together for Umaira in the end. The last double page features the steps for children to be able to dance The Lion Samba, which is good, although I think some of this could have been shown in the story like with the first book in the series rather than appearing only really after the main tale is finished.
The last page of the book has a very brief explanation about the samba and there is a QR code underneath which you can scan with your phone to see a video with the dance in the book. I haven’t yet tried this but it does sound fun! Overall this is a lovely story and for children who enjoy dancing I’m sure many will enjoy enacting the steps to perform the Lion Samba, or just enjoy acting like different animals by dancing, stretching and roaring!
-Thanks to Walker Books for a free copy for review.
by Mrs G Barry
I was worried this might be a bit young for my neice who has just turned 6. I bought for Christmas but she loved it. Scuttled off to practice the moves and was back performing it in a couple hours. Recommended if your kids love dancing!
by niki
Learn to dance with Oti is a fun book where all the children dress up as different animals in preparation for the upcoming animal dance show. The illustrations are adorable with all the different children dressed as various animals.
When Mrs Oti has to decide who the lion will be, all the children want to be picked. She settles on picking Umaira who is a quiet child who couldn’t wait to tell her mother she was going to have a starring role in the play. Lots happen during the play and it is both entertaining as well as funny and unexpected. It all turns out great and shy withdrawn Umaira is the star of the show. All the parents enjoy the show and even join in the dancing at the end.
It is a nice story and the illustrations were very good and added to the charm of this lovely book.
In the back of the book there is a step-by-step tutorial and you can listen to The Lion Samba song by pointing your camera on your phone at the QR code provided in the book.
by Strawberry
I loved the previous dance with Oti book, and this is another that’s such good fun. I was given this book for review, and I’m so glad because we loved it. The children in Mrs Oti’s dance class are preparing for their animal dance show. Umaira has been picked to be the lion, and she starts to get a little nervous. Mrs Oti explains that it’s normal to feel nervous, but the nerves disappear when the music starts. The show starts, but Umaira is too frightened to take part…until something happens with the stage curtain. I won’t give the ending away, but everything turns out well. The illustrations go perfectly with the story, they’re very bright and expressive.
by Bookread2day
I used to do ballet class as a young girl, and always watch Strictly Come Dancing, this is how I recognise Oti Mabuse, now a budding children’s author too, for a very good reason is to get children dancing whatever way makes them happy.
In the children’s story, Mrs Oti is preparing the children with an animal dance show. Mrs Oti wants to choose one of the children to be the lion. There is one shy girl umaira, who doesn’t asked to be picked, but Mrs Oti asked her if she would like to be the lion, but what if her roar isn’t loud enough? When the curtains were opened and the music started all the children on stage begins to dance, but Umaira is too frightened to dance on stage, but when something happens her roar is very loud.
I loved the back of the book where there are steps by steps for the lion samba for children to copy, even parents and grandparents can have fun joining in too. I would like to thank Walker books for sending me this beautiful book.
by Miss Scarlett
I adored the first book from Oti Mabuse – The Bird Jive, so I was looking forward to reading this second book – The Lion Samba and learning a new dance.
The book is highly illustrated with fab images that are drawn so that the moves for the dance are easy to follow.
The dance is pure fun and this book will have children getting up on their feet and trying out the steps.
Another fab book, can’t wait for more.
*I received a free copy of this book, which I voluntarily reviewed