Review of Azi's Dance

[Rishaunda Lynnette Britton]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Azi's Dance" by Charles W. Page MD.]

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2 out of 5 stars

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Azi and his brother Padso are out on the open field with the rest of the children, playing soccer. It is fun, and Azi is in his best performance, dribbling past the three opponents that tackled him with finesse and cruising to score a phenomenal goal. But then the presence of two masked dancers changed the course of everything. As Azi grapples with this incident and what played out during the Big Dance in the village, he comes into contact with a white preacher named Oscar. This white man comes with a message unique and promising, and metaphorically speaking, the white man invites the villagers—Azi included—to a kind of dance different from the one they've always known and participated in.

Azi's Dance is a children's story written by Charles W. Page, MD. There are a number of great concepts and creativities that caught my attention while reading this story, the most remarkable being the symbolic and metaphorical use of the Big Dance (Gule Wamkulu) and the ball to raise awareness of realities beyond the dance the villagers have always engaged in and the soccer that Azi and his fellow children have always played. These instances reminded me of Paul's use of the unknown god post in Athens to make striking points about the true, almighty God.

Furthermore, the story correctly captures life in rural settings; instances include the appearance of the soccer field, the community's source of water, and the demeanor of the villagers following the arrival of the white man. The story is well illustrated, the language is simple, and there is a glossary at the beginning of the book explaining the Chichewa words used in the story; all these should make reading much easier and more fun for children. Another thing that so impressed me was the exceptional editing done in this book. I didn't find any grammatical errors in it.

However, several aspects need to be improved in this story. First, it would be great—following the title of this book—to actually write about Azi's dancing skills and maybe include his membership in a dance group. This will provide the background to connect to the narrative about the other kind of dance introduced by the white preacher, Oscar. Second, there is a plot hole in Oscar's sudden use of Chichewa language to preach to the people. There is no explanation of whether he has been in the village for some time and learned the language. Third, on page 12, the narrative talks about two strangers approaching the well, but what followed was the introduction of only one person, Oscar. I wondered who the other person was.

In addition, I was dissatisfied that some characters were introduced with little or no information about them. I have no idea who the character Shaka is, and all I know about the character Gift is that he is a pastor. I would have appreciated it if the questions Azi asked Bambo were addressed, and this would have helped children gain a deeper understanding of the unfolding incidents. Also, the ending wasn't satisfactory. I expected to see definite impacts of Oscar's sermon on the lives of the villagers and the new course of action going forward, but these didn't happen. Due to these issues, I am removing three stars and rating Azi's Dance two out of five stars. I believe that fixing the aforementioned issues will project the thematic preoccupations of this story most appealingly. Nevertheless, Christian readers aged four to nine will still find some aspects of this book fascinating.

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Azi's Dance
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[Amy Luman]

Is this book intended for older children? It seems to contain concepts and wide leaps that are beyond the grasp of kids (me, too.) I hope that the author can take your advice to improve the book. Thanks!

[Anil Baade]

Thank you for your valuable insights about this book. You've explained about the book very well. I'll definitely add this to my reading list