Today would have been the 100th Birthday of Theodor S. Geisel, more affectionately and commonly knows as Dr. Seuss. After his first children’s book, And to Think I saw it on Mulberry Street was rejected by 27 different publishing houses before it became Ted’s big break into children’s literature, earning him a permanent spot on almost every single one of our bookshelves. In 1998 the NEA began their Read Across America campaign as a way to get kids excited about reading. The year-round program culminates each year on or near Dr. Seuss's birthday. Closer to home, Debbie26 has sponsored a Read Across America Day Write Off to honor the program and the imagination of Dr. Seuss, asking the participants (a list of which follows this review) to review one of their favorite children’s books.


Nina’s Waltz: Find and Nurture the Music in your Soul:

For my own entry, I have chosen a book my daughter and I quite literally stumbled upon during our last trip to the library (If I hadn’t caught her, we very well would have ended up at the hospital for stitches!).

Told from the first person point of view, Nina, tells us that her father is the very best fiddler she knows. Early, early, early (before it was quite morning), Nina and her father, Nick set out in the yellow sedan, which is older than Nina, to a fiddle contest, leaving Nina’s mother and baby brother behind. Nina knows her mother would rather have them stay home so her father could do some odd jobs around town for some much needed money, but she sends them on their way with a thermos of coffee and a thermos of hot cocoa. Nick is planning on playing the song he wrote for a present on Nina’s last birthday (what she really wanted was a mountain bike, but she knew they couldn’t afford it). She asked him for a song that gets inside you, one that you find yourself humming long after you heard it, and that is just what Nina’s Waltz is.

At the fiddle contest, while getting ready to practice, Nick is stung by three wasps and is unable to bend his fingers, let alone play his fiddle. With sweaty palms and a churning stomach, Nina decides that her song needs to be heard, and she overcomes her stage fright to play Nina’s Waltz.


The Illustrations:

Illustrator Deborah Lanino brings us illustrations done in acrylics, with deep blues and purples, long brush strokes, giving us a very pretty, very soothing feeling as we look at the pictures, alive with the musical notes dancing on the wind.


The Moral of the Story:

In such a short story, Demas touches on poverty, dreams, overcoming fears, being happy with less, and finding music in your soul. This is a wonderful story, one that I have since bought at half.com to add to our library. It is geared toward the 4-8 year olds, but I must say that I found myself shedding a tear at the end of the story.


Sites and Links of Interest:

The NEA’s Read Across America website: http://www.nea.org/readacross/

The Dr. Seuss Centennial Celebration website: http://www.seussville.com/seussentennial/

Teacher’s top 100 book choices for children: http://www.nea.org/readacross/resources/catalist.html


List of Write-Off Participants:

Please take a moment to check out their entries:

artemis8 ~ Debbie26 ~ dramastef ~ ed_grover ~ Jadzia66 ~ Kamel622 ~ Marybatson ~ sleeper54 ~ vbanuelos ~ Wifeofvolsfan


Recommended: Yes