The Jellybeans and the Big Dance :: Education by Design Store

Editorial Review

Friendship comes in many flavors in the launch of a charming new series by a bestselling author and illustrator team!

Laura Numeroff, Nate Evans, and Lynn Munsinger bring readers a fun new group of sweet friends.

Just as jellybeans are different colors and flavors, each character in this heartwarming friendship story has a personality and pizzazz that young readers will love.

Emily loves to dance and can’t wait to meet the other girls in her class, who are sure to be just like her. But instead she meets Nicole, a tomboy who would rather be playing soccer; Bitsy, who loves arts and crafts; and Anna, a shy bookworm who has no interest at all in dancing. Realizing that they have to work together to make their dance recital a success, the girls learn to love each other’s differences and strengths as they band together and name their group the Jellybeans!

The latest picture book by beloved bestselling authors Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans is as sweet as sugar and features four adorable characters that all children will relate to. With joyful illustrations by Lynn Munsinger that dance off the page, The Jellybeans and the Big Dance will inspire readers to dance, prance, and boogie-woogie to the beat of their own drum.

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Customer Reviews

My kids love this book!

2008-03-17
I bought this book for my little girls recently, and it's now their favorite book! They particularly like, and can relate to, the differences between the characters since my older daughter is athletic and my younger one is artistic. As a parent, I like how all the characters interact and work together successfully with their varying interests. It's a cute story and the illustrations are adorable. I think my girls like looking at the pictures as much as they like the story.

Delightful tale kids will love

2008-02-29
Emily loves to dance. She dances wherever she is. When Emily begins dance lessons she is excited because she will meet other girls just like her. But when she arrives at dance class she meets one girl who is a tomboy, one who likes arts and crafts and then there is the shy bookworm. No one liked to dance. With a recital looming in the near future, will Emily be able to bring everyone together to make it a success?

Jellybeans are different colors and taste different also. So it is with friends; each is different from the other. But with understanding and dedication to working together, the girls in The Jellybeans and the Big Dance embrace their differences and their strengths and form a strong bond.

The Jellybeans and the Big Dance is a delightful tale of friendship, understanding and perseverance. The illustrations are lovely to look at and draw the reader into the story.

Armchair Interviews says: The Jellybeans and the Big Dance is a winner. Children will not tire of the story. The message is a wonderful byproduct.

Great Book

2008-04-30
This book is the bomb! My kids and I love it. We read it every weekend because they can't get enough of the wonderful content this book has to offer.

Creative Emily Brings the Jellybeans Together

2008-04-29
The cover of "The Jellybeans and the Big Dance" immediately catches the eye. It's colorful, well-designed and excellently illustrated by Lynn Munsinger. The sparkles on the cover attract both kids and parents. The engaging story by the talented writers, Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans was an immediate hit with my grandchildren. They were caught up in Emily's adventures. They admired her dancing and how she twirled and danced everywhere. They were sad at the thought that the other kids in her dancing class didn't want to dance or to be there. But, finally, when Emily brought everyone together with jellybeans, good ideas for teamwork, her passion for dancing and her fun-loving ways, they were excited. My grandkids got a bit scared when Emily momentarily forget her steps for the recital number, "Oh, Little Bug." But they had faith in Emily and only held their breath a little. They also understood right away the wise message of this adorable book.

A Terrific Kickoff for Discussing Friendships and Problem Solving

2008-04-29
Read JellyBeans and the Big Dance with one or more children as the "kickoff" for opening a discussion with children who are striving to make friends, and make friendships work. As a bonus, this story also shows how to problem solve.

The sparkling book cover represents the way four young girls (represented by animals) learn to accept each other in spite of their differences. Thrown together in a dance class they cleverly discover their group name, Jellybeans. The real sparkle begins when each girl contributes a unique talent in order to make the (ugh!) "Oh, Little Bug" dance a success. This group of four become solid friends who will be equally successful at Jellybean soccer, thus a new discussion may be opened -- how will they each contribute?

The Jellybean and the Big Dance is a delightful story, entertainingly illustrated. Bravo to Laura Numeroff, Nate Evans and Lynn Munsinger. I hope we'll see more books about the adorable Jellybeans and how they solve another problem.

The Jellybeans and the Big Dance

2008-04-25
Numeroff, Laura and Nate Evans. The Jellybeans and the Big Dance. Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger. Abrams Books for Young Readers. 2008.

Emily dances around all day whether she is "waiting for the school bus", "watching tv", or "brushing her teeth." One day this happy wolf skips "to her first dance class" but she is disappointed when three of her classmates indicate that they are not equally enthusiastic about dancing: Nicole the cat loves to play soccer, Bitsy the pig loves to paint and Anna the rabbit loves to read. Fortunately, clever Emily discovers that all four have a common interest, a love of jellybeans that enables them to become friends; in fact they form a dance group called, "The Jellybeans" who later put on a successful performance. Expressive characters dance across the brightly colored book cover, their costumes festooned with glitter. The illustrations burst with action and color as Emily "twirled and jumped while the other girls fumbled their steps" then one sits forlorn wiping her face with a handkerchief and one stands with her paws on her hips, looking downcast. A series of pictures show the four "girls" sitting together reading a book on bugs then practicing dance steps. This is a sweet commonplace story about friendship with a take-charge heroine, and the illustrations are endearing.

An excellent embellishment of this story of differences brought together.

2008-04-03
Emily loves to dance and is taking her first dance class where she anticipates she'll meet others who love to dance - but instead she meets girls who like very different things. Will she be able to save their dance recital from disaster? Turns out the girls have different strengths: Lynne Munsinger's fun drawings make for an excellent embellishment of this story of differences brought together.