Kindle Edition Amazon Born to Dance dylananadredtabby Brendon Books Category:  Children Publisher: i4w2 ISBN-10:  0955011620 Type: Fiction Pages: 307 Copyright: November 1st, 2007 ISBN-13: 9780955011627 Price: $6.83 (eBook) Award winning classic Animal adventure, illustrated, and in three parts. A full-length novel for children aged 7-12. Two first prizes plus other awards As a day job, Dylan the tap-dancing dray horse must pull a milk cart. One day he tap-dances while strapped to the cart, ruining the dairyman’s stock. He’s sold to a dangerous horse dealer. Red Tabby, the worldly-wise cat, risks her own life to save his; the baddies come after them and they make a run for it. They come across the Happy Days Circus – only to find the circus animals abandoned and without food or water. To save themselves they must save the troupe. And that’s only the beginning.                 Excerpt As the train screamed along the track, the wind blew Tabby’s whiskers painfully flat against her face but still she searched on, crawling determinedly from one wagon to the next. Then a perilously low tunnel loomed ahead. To save herself from being swept away, Tabby hurriedly squeezed through a hatch in the nearest wagon and dropped into the dimness beneath. For a while she lay unmoving in a damp and shivering ball, not knowing or caring what might happen next. By the time the train pulled out of the tunnel, the sudden storm had passed and the returning sun flooded down through the hatch, warming her fur. Recovering a little, Tabby lifted her head, only to find herself looking straight up into Dylan’s gentle face. ‘Red Tabby! It’s you!’ exclaimed Dylan, staring wide-eyed at the rain-soaked cat. ‘Yes, it’s me all right,’ Tabby assured him, wearily. Dylan’s eyes lit up with excitement. ‘What luck – you being here too. What a great adventure we can have together.’ ‘Believe me, there’d be nothing great about it,’ Tabby said, getting to her feet. ‘That’s why I’m here. I’ve come to warn you.’ Dylan peered down at her. ‘Warn me? What about? I don’t understand.’ ‘It’s simple, Dylan. You’re in terrible danger. In fact you’re all in danger,’ she went on, turning urgently to the other horses. ‘You must escape at once.’

'Not born to obey! Born to Dance!'
Literary Magic (www.LiteraryMagicMag.com) Review of:

Born to Dance by Katherine Reynolds
Reviewed by Rocky Reichman of Literary Magic Magazine.
Katherine Reynolds has many powerful moments in her book, but this may be the most prominent. Dylan, a tap dancing horse, loses his job because of his dancing talent. All seems lost until Red Tabby, his ginger cat friend, comes and helps Dylan escape from the dreary life of a slave horse. They enter the life of freedom. They join the Happy Days Circus and both learn to perform. Do they survive and succeed in the end? Read the book to find out.
Reynolds delivers a masterpiece with Born to Dance, a Children's book that is about much more than talking and performing animals. It is about love, hard work, friendship, and above all, hope. Hope is a simple concept. Just one word. But Born to Dance takes the word "hope" to the next level.
Born to Dance is written in easy to understand language. Its plot twists and swirls like the performers of the Happy Days Circus. The book is a good fit not only for Children, but for young adults and even some adults eager to get in touch with younger side. Born to Dance is not made up of a simplistic or cliché plot. Rather, the story is original and goes so far as to shed new light on the topic of circus animals and how so many animals in general are mistreated.
Reynolds also shows a remarkable talent when it comes to naming characters. Titles like Dangerous Dennis, Clumsy Golightly and Lord Stomper are sure to catch readers' attention, children and adults alike.
While the book contains repetitive dialog, the redundancies do not hinder the true purposes of the story or the values this story teaches: treat animals fairly, treat strangers who need help fairly, and, of course, treat friends fairly.
Born to Dance will leave readers excited for more. Who knows? Maybe they will even start dancing themselves! "Tip-tip-tippity tap. Tap-tap-tappity, tip."