# 14 Sun Dance Water Dance

Sun Dance Water Dance
Author: Jonathan Landon
Illustrator: Greg Couch
Publisher: Dulton Childrens Books, 2001
 27 Pages

Poetry

          This book took me back to the days when I loved summertime more than anything else. It brings back memories of going to the cabin at the creek and staying all summer. When I was younger, I was never indoors during the summer. This text brings floods of wonderful memories back. Once I started reading, the rhythm of the words seemingly added music to the words. The children in the story play all day in the sun and water, comfortably in their bathing suits. After playing outside and getting hot the children run to the river to cool off. After their refreshing swim, they get out and play on the banks of the river, skipping stones. The children hop back into the water to play on intertubes in the rapids. When it starts getting later in the day the children head back to camp for food and drinks. The children soon go back down to the river and explore until they get hot enough to swim again. When the sun light is completely gone the children lay on the rocks and watch the fireflies and shooting stars.
          The illustrations in this book are done in water color. The color pallet used contains many yellows, blues, and greens. The illustrator does an incredible job at creating the feeling of summer though the colors in the sky and environment.
          This book would be great for students of any grade. Younger students would be able to connect on the way they spend their time in the summer, while older students would be able to reflect on those days. This book would be an excellent read-aloud for the end of the year activities. This book would get students excited for the summer vacation. There are many elements of poetry in this book and could be a great tool to use while teaching about those seasons of life. This book has no awards or honors.