Footloose

Loggins’s chart-topping 1984 single, cowritten with Dean Pitchford, returns with new lyrics to fit the zoo setting of this picture book adaptation, packaged with a CD recording. Instead of kicking off Sunday shoes, Loggins invites readers to “slip on their dancin’ shoes” and join a rowdy cast of animals who show off several dancing styles. There’s rock and roll—represented by apes in headbands and tie-dyed shirts (“Jeez, Louise, rockin’ the chimpanzees”)—llamas in tutus, tangoing tigers, and an elephant deejay spinning “funky, hop-hopping grooves” on a turntable. Bowers (Dinosaur Pet) maintains a high-energy atmosphere as the zoo comes alive by night, and his heavily brushed paintings create a sense of whirling, twirling movement on each page. Some of the trying-to-be-cool moments miss the mark—see the aforementioned deejay, as well as “Luke, too cute, funkiest cat at the zoo” in his backward cap, leather jacket, sunglasses, and gold chain—but the revised lyrics offer a fun way for parents and grandparents to “cut footloose” with a new generation. Ages 2–6. Illustrator’s agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content. (Oct.)