Dance Your Pants Off

Gr 2–5—George Brown is trying to be good—really, he is. Is it his fault that he made a wish on a shooting star to make kids laugh without getting into trouble, and that only the first half of the wish came true? Now he is cursed with a super burp. Whenever it builds up in his belly, winds up his windpipe, and exits in a mighty belch, the super burp takes over his whole body. George does ridiculous things that are completely beyond his control until the burp goes away. Needless to say, this is embarrassing. In this ninth series entry (after Hey! Who Stole the Toilet??), George's teacher, Mrs. Kelly, enters a television dance contest: "Dance Your Pants Off." She's not the best dancer in the world, but her fourth-grade class supports her. When George and his friends attend the taping, the super burp has George literally enacting the show's title. Oh, the horror! Jonathan Todd Ross performs this easy chapter book, creating unique voices for each character and a rather spectacular belch for the story's main troublemaker. It's a fun, light-hearted romp that will appeal to elementary school students.—Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary, Federal Way, WA