Dance Like a Flamingo

I have been writing for many years in a number of different genres, from books for babies up to books for 11 year-olds plus. I like to try new things and tackle new subjects, so I don't limit myself to one type of book. One month I might be writing about history, and the next month I might be creating an imaginary story. Examples of my work have been selected for national Key Stage study in the UK, and in the USA I was commended by the Library of Congress for my work in non-fiction, which they felt encouraged reluctant readers. I work with visuals always in mind, and love the challenge of getting across information or an exciting story with good graphics to back it up. Lately I have been blogging about the craft of writing, and I've also appeared at National Book Festivals, which I think of as the most challenging thing of all to do! I get a lot of emails from children around the world, inspired by one of my books they have read, and that gives me great pleasure. Claudia Boldt is a German illustrator based in London, UK. She attended the Glasgow School of Art, and then Kingston University, London, where she graduated in 2007 with a Masters in Illustration. Claudia was a winner of the Booktrust Best New Illustrators Award. She is the co-founder of children's newspaper The Loop.

• Introduction - warm up and get ready to dance like the animals (and learn about them, too) - Dance like a flamingo making friends - Dance like a fiddler crab waving hello - Dance like a lemur swinging and bouncing - Dance like a baby owl waiting for its mum - Dance like a lizard on the hot desert sand - Dance like a dolphin leaping and splashing - Dance like a penguin on the slippery ice - Dance like a bee coming home - Dance like a chimpanzee loving the rain - Dance like a peacock spreading its tail - Dance like a bird in a flock - Everybody dance all over the world! So many lovely animals, so many dances! - Yeah...dance!

'The whole family can get moving, and learn something too, with the help of this cheerful book'