#524 of 1001 · January 6, 2022

Dancing is unquestionably a vital component of human cultures all over the world. To dance together is to share an moment of true delight, and asking someone else to dance is often the key to initiating the entire experience. With these ideas in mind I am reading Keisuke Tsutsui and Chihiro Iwasaki’s Invitation to the Dance. Outside a large manor house, a young boy watches the wealthy guests arrive for a ball. The gatekeeper angrily chases him away, and he flees, only to find himself on an expansive lawn where he meets a young girl and asks her to dance. They are joined in their reverie by sentient flowers, butterflies, and fish. A bizarre apparition of the gardener looms before them, but they escape and safely bid each other farewell. Tsutsui’s text, translated into English by Ann King Herring, sets up a diverting landscape of imaginary wonder. Iwasaki’s art conveys a delicate watercolor world of shimmering beauty. A word about the source: Invitation to the Dance is an 1819 piano composition by Karl Maria von Weber. A concert waltz (that is, a waltz meant for listening rather than dancing), the piece tells the story of a man asking a woman to dance at a ball. Tsutsui has transformed the characters to children in a fantasy setting, while maintaining the spirit of Weber’s original work. #invitation #dance #book #books #childrensbooks #fairytalebook #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #classicchildrensbooks #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks