Diana Dances

First seen skateboarding into her classroom, Diana clearly has spunk, but she is bored at school and has a hard time concentrating. After a pediatrician suggests a visit to a psychologist, Diana has a dramatic breakthrough, spontaneously dancing to music playing on the radio and prompting a fittingly theatrical diagnosis: “Madam, your daughter is not sick! Your daughter is a dancer!” At the psychologist’s recommendation, Diana’s mother enrolls her in dance school, where she blissfully joins other children in a buoyant, free-form class. Diana transforms immediately, discovering that “it was easier for her to think if she was moving” and practicing dance moves while memorizing multiplication tables. She even begins “to have a good time at school.” Some may take issue with the tidy resolution of a child’s struggle to stay focused, but spare yet spirited matte illustrations by Lozano (Miles of Smiles) create a winning aesthetic, with a subdued palette punctuated by splashes of bright color. Images of the plucky heroine, sporting oversize eyeglasses and displaying an array of facial expressions and stances, bolster the book’s humor—as do the antics of her tutu-clad canine sidekick. Ages 3–6. [em](Mar.) [/em]