No Thanks, but I'd Love to Dance: Choosing to Live Smoke Free
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Conveying a positive, nonjudgmental message to children, this tale provides techniques for empowering them to refuse offers of tobacco in pursuit of a healthy, active lifestyle. Belle, an exuberant six-year-old, and her beloved Grandma Bee share a great love for dancing. As a result of tobacco use earlier in her life, Grandma Bee must now use an oxygen tank to assist in her breathing. Observant Belle, who cannot imagine life without dancing, consciously makes the lifelong choice to dance instead of smoke.Children's LiteratureSix-year-old Annabelle has lots of friends. Her best friend is her Grandma Bee. She and Grandma Bee do cool things together, like dancing and playing video games. They spend nearly every day together. Then one day, while they are dancing, Grandma Bee says she needed to rest. Her doctor has told her she is not getting enough oxygen and needs to use an oxygen tank. She explains to Annabelle that oxygen keeps our heart beating, our brain thinking and our bodies moving. Grandma Bee says her lungs were damaged by smoking cigarettes when she was younger. She explains that she started smoking when she went to a dance and her date asked her if she'd like a cigarette. Grandma Bee thought the kids who were smoking looked cool, and she wanted to be cool, too. She tells Annabelle that it only took one cigarette to start smoking, and many years to quit. Annabelle looks at her grandmother's oxygen tank, then offers some sage advice: "You should have said, 'No thanks, but I'd love to dance!'" The author captures the essence of what a six-year-old can understand about smoking, and gives kids a ready-made response to offers of cigarettes. Reviewer: Beverly Melasi
