From School Library Journal:
PreSchool-Grade 3-- Tucked away on her grandfather's lap, Sugar listens happily to stories about the days when he could `` . . . dance the sequins off a champ.'' Now retired from his job with a moving company, Papa Lucky is ready to fix up his tap shoes and start rehearsing, hoping to earn a little extra money by dancing. Despite disapproving glances from her mother, the girl becomes his biggest fan. When the man starts dancing on the city streets, the child acts as his ``hat girl,'' picking up the coins thrown by onlookers. After nailing bottle caps to an old pair of her shoes, the duo secretly rehearse a number for the Pensioners' Club party, where they perform in perfect harmony. Told affectionately from Sugar's point of view, this warm, intergenerational story is flavored with a bit of nostalgia. Daly's watercolor and pencil illustrations are filled with movement and rhythm: Papa Lucky has the gracefully lanky look of tap stars from the '30s and '40s. Whenever he is in motion, his features take on an expression of such euphoria that it is easy to see why Sugar is captivated. --Joy Fleishhacker, New York Public Library
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Publishers Weekly:
Papa Lucky could "dance the sequins off a champ" when he was a young man--but marriage and children required him to work a steady job and save dancing just for fun. Now, Papa Lucky is a widower and has moved in with his daughter's family. He decides to shine up his dancing shoes and earn his keep on the streets where "money walks and money talks." Lucky's grandaughter Sugar is delighted--despite her mother's protests--and even learns a few moves herself. Before long the engaging duo changes Ma's mind. Daly's text brims with both wide-eyed admiration and fond remembrance, and the family dynamics at work here ring true. The peppy be-bop quality of Sugar's narrative might inspire some impromptu toe-tapping. Daly's sketchy watercolor and pencil illustrations have a predominantly purple cast and the fluid lines of Papa Lucky suggest a combination of nimbleness, style and grace that send him "jiving and bamboozling" across the pages. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.