Dance Like a Flamingo

I have been writing for many years in a number of different genres, from books for babies up to books for 11 year-olds plus. I like to try new things and tackle new subjects, so I don't limit myself to one type of book. One month I might be writing about history, and the next month I might be creating an imaginary story. Examples of my work have been selected for national Key Stage study in the UK, and in the USA I was commended by the Library of Congress for my work in non-fiction, which they felt encouraged reluctant readers. I work with visuals always in mind, and love the challenge of getting across information or an exciting story with good graphics to back it up. Lately I have been blogging about the craft of writing, and I've also appeared at National Book Festivals, which I think of as the most challenging thing of all to do! I get a lot of emails from children around the world, inspired by one of my books they have read, and that gives me great pleasure. Claudia Boldt is a young German illustrator based in London. She attended the Glasgow School of Art, and then Kingston University, London, where she graduated with her Masters in Illustration in 2007. Claudia was a winner of the Booktrust Best New Illustrators Award. She is the co-founder of children's newspaper The Loop.

Introduction - warm up and get ready to dance like the animals (and learn about them, too) • Dance like a flamingo making friends • Dance like a fiddler crab waving hello • Dance like a lemur swinging and bouncing • Dance like a baby owl waiting for its mum • Dance like a lizard on the hot desert sand • Dance like a dolphin leaping and splashing • Dance like a penguin on the slippery ice • Dance like a bee coming home • Dance like a chimpanzee loving the rain • Dance like a peacock spreading its tail • Dance like a bird in a flock • Everybody dance all over the world! So many lovely animals, so many dances! • Yeah…dance!