about the book
A pink flamingo dances wordlessly on the left.
A young, pudgy girl in swim cap, swim suit, and flippers “dances” wordlessly on the right.
The girl is Flora. The flamingo is “the flamingo.” They are friends. The flamingo dances fluidly and eloquently, never missing a step, always posing perfectly. Flora… Flora tries. Her flippers become like the flamingo’s webbed feet, and Flora does her best to move her arms like the flamingo’s wings, but the dance moves are just too much for Flora.
A botched move annoys the flamingo. Flora falls and becomes embarrassed. The flamingo relents, and together the two friends learn dance moves that they both can do equally well.
about the author
Ever since she could hold a pencil, Molly Idle has been drawing—even before she could walk!
Of course, her art career took quite a bit longer, as in having to grow up and go to college at Arizona State University. She got her BFA in Drawing (surprise surprise!) and got a job with DreamWorks Feature Animation Studios! After five years there, with a number of film credits in her portfolio, she decided to make her first foray into children’s book illustration.
Molly lives in Arizona with her husband, her two mischievous sons, and two snuggle-loving cats. When not scribbling at her desk, she likes to make mischief with her boys, or else watch old Technicolor musicals.
On the home page of her website, Molly has this quote from Floyd Dell, an American writer: “Idleness is not doing nothing. Idleness is being free to do anything.”
Sources:
Author website
Author interview : Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Author interview : Mr. Schu Reads
Also by Molly Idle:
Sea Rex. Viking Juvenile. 2015.
Flora and the Penguin. Chronicle Books. 2014.
Camp Rex. Viking Juvenile. 2014.
Tea Rex. Viking Juvenile. 2013.
read more!
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Flora and the Penguin by Molly Idle
Now that Flora has mastered ballet, she’s decided to take her dance moves to the ice. She finds a new friend in a penguin and the two twirl, leap, spin, and glide together. But when Flora gives the penguin the cold shoulder, can the pair figure out how to skate together again?
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When you occasionally turn into a bat, have a pasty, pale, undead complexion, can only go out at night, and cannot see yourself in a mirror, it can be really hard to become a ballet dancer! But for Vampirina, ballet is life. It is all she wants to do, and she will find a way to learn ballet if it kills her—again. She will start with an evening class….





