Tag Archives: ballet

Dance along with Eka and Ballerina Konora in this interactive adventure story.

Eka’s family creates a garden, but Eka worries animals may destroy all their hard work. When playful elephants visit, will Eka find a way to save the vegetables and flowers?

Each Dance-It-Out! story is a kids’ dance performance for the imagination stage. Ballerina Konora joins the pages with dance photos and suggestions for movement exploration.

Three books in one: readers can
• enjoy the story
• act out the tale in their own way
• try Konora’s suggested activities, designed by an award-winning ballet teacher to develop body awareness and practice dance fundamentals

The Dance-It-Out! collection spans books ideal for kids 3-9, and Eka and the Elephants makes a great series introduction for children 4+. Eka and the Elephants features Eka (no pronouns), Eka’s brother and sister, Koda and Kanoni, and Eka’s parents, along with elephants and bunnies. Dance-It-Out!s are above level (language-wise) as they are often initially enjoyed with a caregiver or teacher. (~700Lexile)

Amazon Purchase Link

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Reedsy Discovery. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

I have found that children who tend to a garden, farm, orchard, etc., better understand and appreciate the food they consume. If you have children who might shy away from veggies, consider planting and managing a garden together.  

As I was reading Eka and the Elephants with my youngest, I noticed she was very fascinated with the girl on each page, what she was doing, and wanted to mimic her actions. She was more invested in that than the overall story. That wasn’t a bad thing, she was engaging with the story, so I was pleased. I believe an older child will like every aspect of the book more than a (barely) three-year-old. 

As for the overall writing, I loved the mental image certain lines painted in my mind, such as “the shoots looked like little green hands waving hello” and “they had long tendrils, like octopus legs reaching out in all directions.” 

I also liked the bit of trivia information weaved into the story, “Did you know elephants can eat seven times as much food, and drink five times as much water as a human? And elephants don’t like bees, even though they’re at least a hundred times bigger!” A fascinating tidbit to share with your friends! 

The illustrations by Cristian Gheorghita were outstanding. We adored the purple elephants. As an extended activity, we counted all the animals we could find. We talked about a vegetable or flower garden that would be more fun to grow. She chose a flower, of course. We made plans to start on our garden. So, while my youngest’s attention span wavered here and there, they did enjoy reading it. They are excited about our weekend plans of starting a mini garden, so this book is MOM approved. Daughter approved. 

Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 
Score: ❤❤❤❤

Amazon Purchase Link

Meet the Authors

Reedsy Link