This book was so cute! The walrus (Franz-Ferdinand) sees some flamingos doing a ballet and thinks to himself, I want to do that to. This book will show the value of working hard and not letting others tell you what you can and cannot do. There is also a message about ocean pollution.

Great book for anyone that enjoys a good read.

This was such a cute book! I should have expected nothing less from the creator of Rainbow Fish. I can’t wait to buy this and read it to my nephew, who loves all things silly animals.

When I saw this one was from the same author as The Rainbow Fish I was excited to read this one, having loved that one so much as a kid. This one felt a little more disjointed to me, with almost too many themes - be unique, try something new, love who you want to love, save the environment... It just felt clunky to read.

Cute story. Beautiful illustrations. Perfect for kids.

I received an advanced copy for an honest review.

This book was overall very cute. Some of the climate change stuff felt forced or awkward, particularly explaining why the flamingos were there. It sort of distracted from the story and didn’t seem necessary. Also, I would’ve enjoyed seeing the walruses more upset at all the trash while assembling their tutus. Overall, it was cute but left me wanting more.

I love walruses and the illustrations in this one were adorable! I liked the message of the book but felt it was a bit wordy for small children to stay focused.

A cute story about learning to adapt to situations, despite any biases society may have about you.
There's also a nice message about reuse, reduce and recycle.

This is such a fun book from start to finish. Franz shows us you can do anything if you put your mind to it, even if others don’t believe in you! I think it is such an important lesson for kids and a must add to your bookshelf!!

I really liked the concept of this book, but struggled with the execution. The basic story of a walrus who wants to learn to dance and is taught to do so by a flamingo is darling. The illustrations are beautifully done and I wouldn’t expect anything less from the man who did Rainbow Fish. However, the text on the pages is tiny and paragraphs long. A child in the 2020s isn’t going to read that (seriously my mom is an elementary school librarian and the kids have no interest in picture books with this type of text). I also found the environmentalism very heavy-handed, and I say that as an eco-conscious millennial leftist. Overall I loved the illustrations and it’s worth flipping through for them.

Thank you to NetGalley and North South Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book didn't quite work for me...
I think I couldn't reconcile the fact that the book looked like a picture book targeted to the pre-k/ early elementary set, but it was just so text heavy. When we finished reading my 6 year old (who is my sound board when testing out new kids' books) looked at me with wide eyes and proclaimed: This was THE LONGEST book ever. And subjectively he wasn't wrong. So overall, I am just not sure what age group to recommend this to... the writing feels too advanced for the littler kiddos, and the whole look and feel is going to be too young (baby-ish my daughter would say) for anyone above second grade.
On the plus side I did enjoy the large scale, double page illustrations!

I'm a big fan of Marcus Pfister. His illustrations are always beautiful. This picture book is so clever but has an impactful message too. Along with the classic themes of accepting each creature's differences, he dives into the devastating effects of pollution on our environment. The message is subtle but memorable. A perfect book for children and a great reminder for adults too.

A beautiful story about love, courage and following your dreams. Though it slightly touches climate change, Its main focus is on pollution.. I did not find it didactic because of its natural narration.

Franz-Ferdinand The Dancing Walrus was a beautiful book with its topic and pictures.

A very sweet story about following your dreams no matter how out of place you feel or how unwelcome you may be. Very inspirational. I also liked the commentary on the environment and keeping the oceans clean. The pictures were lovely, too!

Each of us had a dream as a child. Bigger or smaller, outlined sooner or later, at some point, we all knew we wanted to do something, to get someone. This is what book does: it helps parents to help their kids to follow their dreams and in the same time to offer them a certain grasp of education for the ocean pollution. The walrus here proves that if he felt this was his way: dancing, the flamingo would always be by his side, to support him, to help him get up every time it was hard for him and he would want to give up. In the same time, they are there one for each other and support other walruses to accomplish their dream as well.
The message of the book can be summed up like this: follow your passion, go your own way and everything will come naturally. Listen to your heart, do what you love, let yourself be influenced only by those who can help you. Beyond all this advice, it is very important not to forget to encourage your children, to always treat them as winners, not to have expectations and not to put pressure. Let them dance with love and pleasure and do not condition their training or other "privileges" on the results obtained.

This book has gorgeous illustrations and a very cute concept, but I was shocked at the font size and arrangment. Perhaps this will be changed for the final printing, but it seemed to go against the age range that such a big picture book would normally suggest. It's also wordy, which would place it for much older readers than the cutesy storyline might suggest. I did appreciate the final author's note about ocean pollution, though--very '90s throwback, but that seems useful these days! (Also, it was good to emphasize to kids that while the trash-as-a-tutu concept is very cute in the story, pollution isn't actually 'cute' in real life. I'd been worried about that before the final note.)

This was a sweet story about a Walrus who wants to become a ballet dancer and uses trash to make his ballet costume. This book was entertaining and informative and will hopefully help people think before they put any more trash into the ocean.

This was a sweet and funny book about a walrus who wants to dance ballet with some flamingos. Under that simple plot, there is a story of working hard to achieve your goals, and the danger of pollution in the ocean. I enjoyed this children's book and I think that there are many levels for kids to think about and enjoy. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I generally like Marcus Pfister stories, but this one is a little to preachy for me. Especially as it is meant for younger, think grade school children. I know plastics are bad for the environment (and not using straws will fix it?!) I think too much is being shoved down kids throats as it is. Let adults DO something about the environment as THEY that are causing the issue. They need to do something to fix it. Save the environmental issues until at least 6th or 7th grade. Story alone is fun, however, and I always enjoy the art work in his books! Just dislike children being preached at.

Eesh. I think this is a valid lesson in the problem of plastic marine waste, dressed up as a fancy tale of a walrus who sees some flamingos learning ballet (don't ask) and wants to join in. So where do you begin? The book doesn't want us to question the geography here, of how the two species met, so we won't. I thought the biggest issue was to have such a peculiar choice of name for the title character, until I opened this and saw the sheer verbose wordiness of it all. It looks like a book for the under-eights, it feels like a book for the under-eights, it will be absurd for anyone who's heard of World War One, and yet it has a couple hundred words per page when it could have been done in a couple hundred all told. Thus it loses all the winsome, oddball charm it might have had, and clunks in an off-putting manner to the repetition of the ecology lesson we'd seen play out in the plot. It's not horrendous, but word count and image is a major mismatch and this should be a low priority for purchase.

This charming picture book follows a walrus who decides to try and learn ballet. The story is a lovely tale of pushing your boundaries and trying new things, but also has a theme of environmental awareness, which is important for our current global situation. The themes of perseverance and determination make this a heartwarming story perfect for any child or walrus-lover.