Skipping to Sammy's beat by Coral Vass. Illus. by Blithe Fielden

Sammy loves to be herself, but others make what she does seem unacceptable. This story is a delight, encouraging all children to follow their feelings of being themselves.

Sammy loves above all to dance; skipping along in her pink tutu, yellow gunboats and huge wings, singing ta dum to herself. But turning five, she notices  other children wearing quite different clothes, so her tutu feels silly. She divests herself of her tutu, wings, gumboots and helmet, and keeps dancing. The other children laugh at her and she stops dancing. She watches the others do the things she liked: dancing, looking at ladybirds, and splashing in the puddles. She sits by herself, a shadow of her former self. Suddenly a dragonfly lands in her hand and the others come across to see what she is holding. She shows them and allows the insect to fly away, following its path. The children ask Sammy to play with them, but she has found her beat, and dances off singing, and the others join her.

She has remained true to herself, finding again that her own beat is what matters. This lovely story will appeal to all readers, seeing Sammy being herself, and not changing to suit the others. After a small blip where she feels rejected by them, her difference is accepted as she remains true to her beat.

Working with her ipad, Blithe Fielden loves to keep the lines supporting the illustrations, so creating a lively, humorous set of images, colourful and child centred, filled with lots of detail found in gardens. Blithe now lives in Brisbane, after completing her degree in Leeds, and we will see more work by this talented illustrator. 

Themes: Humour, Difference, Conformity, Childhood.

Fran Knight