Little Piccadilly is charmed when her father shows her how the wind makes the autumn leaves dance, and she decides that she’d like to dance with the wind, too. Her efforts are in vain at first, though she does make a new friend in the form of the furry, knightly squirrel Sir Bartleby. But then her brother suggests that she try making a kite. Her resulting creation, complete with a rainbow-ribbon tail, helps the wind sweep her off her feet into a joyous dance.

PICCADILLY AND THE WALTZING WIND is a book full of movement and color, which will delight energetic and imaginative children. The illustrations are animated and brilliantly colored, with bright autumn tones and vivid patterns (almost painfully so- this might not be the ideal book for a child with sensory disorders, but it will delight those who insist on drawing with every single crayon in the box). The pictures are full of clever little details like fairies with acorn caps and leafy wings, Sir Bartleby’s tortoise steed, and the antics of Piccadilly’s little black cat. Piccadilly herself is portrayed both in image and in word as a curious, friendly, sweet-faced and openhearted child, a sympathetic figure for kids to identify with or to imagine themselves befriending.

The story is pleasant, cheerful, and nonthreatening, with no scary monsters in Piccadilly’s woods or painful dilemmas to trouble her, just playful exploration, loving family and adorable playmates. Piccadilly’s speech patterns might be a bit mature for a child of her apparent age, as when she greets Sir Bartleby with “I’m pleased that we have met, though I’d kindly request that you stop dropping caps on my head!” but that’s a nuance unlikely to worry most child readers. They’ll probably be too busy trying to figure out how they, too, can go out and get the wind to dance with them.

PICCADILLY AND THE WALTZING WIND is a book full of energetic motion, brilliant color, and childhood delight – perfect for a bright, imaginative kindergartener or first-grader.

~Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader