Dance with Oti: The Bird Jive

My little ones age 3 and 4, liked all the pictures of the children at the beginning. Showing lots of different kids like their friends at school and nursery. Overall would definitely recommend, beautiful pictures and kept my kids entertained though out. – Parent * Toppsta *It’s a lovely story, very relatable, teaches children great values like helping each other and not giving up. And the pictures are happy and colourful. Everything about it makes you feel good. – Parent * Toppsta *My daughter loved going down the line of children and getting to know each of their names. It’s brilliantly diverse which celebrates a great community and that dancing is open to everyone. We also talked about each child’s emotions from their facial expressions an body languages so it offered great discussion. […] We hope to see a series of these books with a variety of dances. – Parent * Toppsta *Oti starts off her dance class with a warm up and this is something children (and adults) reading can join in with as well. The warm up page has very clear images and instructions of what to do and what comes next. This is a great way for getting children up and moving while not even really realising. Of course, it looks like loads of fun as well. * Me, Him, the Dog and a Baby Blog *Featured in The Bookseller’s April 2022 Previews. * The Bookseller *

Oti Mabuse is a professional dancer, choreographer, presenter and actress best known for her star quality on BBC’s Number One show Strictly Come Dancing and Oti’s Boogie Beebies which kept children entertained during lockdown.

Oti was born in South Africa in 1990, the year Mandela was released, and has been dancing since the age of four. Whilst training and competing as a dancer, she also studied civil engineering at the University of Technology in Pretoria. She is one of the most successful South African dancers in the world and starred in Let’s Dance in Germany before joining Strictly Come Dancing in 2015, winning the coveted trophy in 2019. Her incredible Strictly performances led her to become a Dance Captain on BBC One’s The Greatest Dancer.

Samara Hardy has always loved to draw. As an illustrator, she was Highly Commended in the Macmillan Children’s Picture Book Prize, and won first place the Plum Pudding Awards Alice in Wonderland Competition.