“A Celebration of Movement and Imagining!”: A Review of Frankie’s Wish by Once Upon a Dance
(Once Upon a Dance 2022). ISBN: 978-1-955555-53-1 As a longtime creative dramatist and youth theatre specialist, I am always on the lookout for books like Frankie’s Wish , which has everything I could ask for—a celebration of imagination, interesting places to explore, adventures to physicalize, and new friends to meet—and best of all, it has the added element of a ballerina called Konora. Konora is featured at the bottom half of every right-hand page (the left-hand pages being devoted to illustrations), offering suggestions for how to physically interact with the story, whether it be a dance move, stretch, or transformation into a dinosaur or gorilla. Frankie’s Wish is the brainchild of Once Upon a Dance. It is described on the copyright page as a “Dance-it-Out Creative Movement Story.” The illustrations are by Emilia Rumińska, and the story is based on one by Eva Stone. This particular book—the latest of 19 in the series—is perfect not only for creative dramatists, bu...