OCTOBER 2025
Giraffes Can’t Dance and Neither Can I
by Judy Newman
In my mind, I can get on the dance floor and move like the best of them. Maybe not at the level of Karen Lynn Gorney or Jennifer Beals, or Oliva Newton-John—the dancing queens of my youth—or like the amazing Beyoncé or Taylor Swift, but I do feel the rhythm.
But when I am on the actual dance floor, I know, deep down, I am not a very good dancer. I am too self-conscious and stiff. I look carefully at the maestro dancers around me and try to imitate their moves, but if I am honest with myself, dancing is not my superpower.
Lots of people are very good dancers. And my social media algorithms connect me to many of them. These dancing videos I watch express joy and confidence and fun. The creativity I see online, from professional ballroom dancing to rooms full of people of all ages waving their hands to “Boots on the Ground” is so much fun to watch. Recently, someone showed me a colorized video of Judy Garland dancing with the Munchkins in Oz in perfect time to “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits—which has the same rhythm and timing as “Follow the Yellow Brick Road.” It is great!
Children’s books—among which I do move more confidently—also express the same kind of joy and creativity as the best musical dance numbers. Reading activates children’s imaginations, motivates shared joy, and inspires self-expression. And often, kids’ books teach us valuable lessons.
As I was bemoaning my dancing inability, I took out my well-read copy of Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees. Giraffes Can’t Dance is the story of Gerald, a giraffe who believes he can’t dance as well as the other creatures in the jungle, and ultimately discovers his inner dancer when he listens to the words of a wise, violin-playing cricket.
At the end of Giraffes Can’t Dance, Gerald concludes, “We all can dance when we find music that we love.”
I am going to take Gerald’s words to heart and find music that helps me exercise my dancing muscles and move across the dance floor with more confidence.
Many other beloved children’s books celebrate the joy of dancing. Some of my favorites are: Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird; I Got the Rhythm by Connie Schofield-Morrison; and Alvin Ailey by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney. If you have any children’s books about dancing (or really about anything) you’d like to recommend to me, please let me know at JNewman@Scholastic.com.
No matter how much I try, I know I am unlikely to win any dance contests. But what I can say with confidence is that I am a reader and I know that is my superpower. And in my job as Chief Impact Officer at Scholastic and in my new work with The United States of Readers, as I tell all kids, teachers, and families—when kids can read, they can do anything. Even dance.
Judy •
Judy Newman, Chief Impact Officer, Scholastic