The New York Times bestseller I Hope You Dance is a book of hope, encouragement, and inspiration. Now, the authors of the book and the song offer this wonderful and whimsical take on the "grown up" message of the book.I Hope You Dance for children is witty and fun, warm and fuzzy, wild and fanciful. For the kid in your life, here's the opportunity to say:

I hope you dance!
Stir it up, baby, make a splash
do the shag and the monster mash
the cotton eyed joe and the hokey pokey
if you ain't got rhythm that's okey dokey
don't lay in the tub and bubble bath soaka
get your shimmy on the floor and do the zydeco polka

The message of the book is complemented by remarkable, delightful illustration and design by the award winning team of Buddy Jackson and Karinne Caulkins, which created the graphics for the adult version ofI Hope You Dance.

I Hope You Dance

By Mark D. Sanders

Rutledge Hill Press

Copyright © 2003 Mark D. Sanders
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9781401601270

Chapter One

How many times have my wishes and my dreams and my prayers for you hidden beneath my breath?

How many times have I looked at you, heart in my throat, hands in my pockets, a smile on my face, just wanting to say ...

I HOPE YOU NEVER LOSE YOUR SENSE OF WONDER

WHAT IS HOPE

What is hope? To want? To desire? To expect that what's envisioned may indeed happen? YES to all of the above. Is hope that gut feeling that it's worth holding out and hanging on for just a little longer? ABSOLUTELY. Is hope the core of the human condition? CERTAINLY. Can you have hope without faith and humility and wonder? THAT 'S TOUGH. Just the thought that there's something bigger, something truer, something totally surprising out there waiting for us is ... priceless.

What would you be without hope growing deep in your bones, thriving in every inch of you? NOTHING.

Hope takes never ceasing to be amazed ...

Wearing your soul on your sleeve ...

Holding your breath, waiting to hear "I love you, too ..."

Believing that tomorrow could be better than today ... that you'll get a second chance ... that you'll make a difference ... that you matter.

YOU GET YOUR FILL TO EAT BUT ALWAYS KEEP THAT HUNGER

Hunger is the wanting: to see more to feel more to touch more to crave, desire, search out, find, hold more. And sometimes hunger hurts more. But go on, go west, young man, young woman. Plow the land, plant the seeds, grow the food for the whole wide world.

MAY YOU NEVER TAKE ONE SINGLE BREATH FOR GRANTED

SO BREATH OUT AND BREATHE IN

(AND SOAK IT ALL UP)

GOD FORBID LOVE EVER LEAVE YOU EMPTY-HANDED

But if it does, may it leave you patient and stronger, willing and wiser, tender and tougher.

I HOPE YOU STILL FEEL

SMALL WHEN YOU STAND BESIDE THE OCEAN

Continues...

Excerpted from I Hope You Danceby Mark D. Sanders Copyright © 2003 by Mark D. Sanders. Excerpted by permission.
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