Mermaid Dance

In this cheerful first collaboration between spouses Matthew Van Fleet (Chomp Goes the Alligator) and Mara Van Fleet (Mama’s Pajamas), the interactivity starts on the cover: by pulling the first of the six large, solid-feeling tabs, readers can make the tail of a smiling mermaid swish back and forth. Inside, readers meet a “school of merkids” with various skin tones, each of whom has a distinctive, softly iridescent tail. When they all receive seashell-shaped invitations to a dance party, simple rhyming text conveys their groove-related dismay: “ ‘Oh no!’ said a mermaid to their little fishy pal. ‘We really want to go, but we don’t know how.’ ” On each subsequent watercolor pencil spread, marine critter friends school the merkids in dance moves, with pull tabs demonstrating the seahorse swish, the nifty narwhal nod, the silly seal spin, the polar bear twist, and the flippy penguin flap. The twist (“Twist, twist,/ twist, twist,/ twisty, twisty,/ TWIST!” reads the iterative refrain) is perhaps the most impressive, employing a pull tab that moves a polar bear’s body and arms in opposite directions to approximate a swivel. (Clear plastic screens protect the moving parts, adding to the book’s sturdiness.) Each lesson ends with a rousing refrain of “You can dance!” and builds momentum for the final spread, a large-scale pop-up that shows the party in full swing—a fitting close to this interactive feel-good bop. Ages 2–up. (Jan.)