Bob Robber lived alone in a dingy old cottage down a back lane. He only comes out at night and the night had got into him. His hair was black as bats and his eyes were the colour of the new moon. Bob Robber could stand so still that spiders didn't notice him and spun webs across his clothes. Then one summer night, he sees Dancing Jane - her feet were light, her eyes were brown and her dress was white as winter snow - and he begins to envy her happy dancing. But Bob Robber cannot dance and so he does the only thing he can, he steals. He steals Dancing Jane's shadow and takes it home. But the shadow cannot dance without its owner and Jane is bereft without her shadow. Bob dreams about her sad face and resolves to give the shadow back. The next night he waits by the road and steps out to return the shadow. Then, for the first time in his life he asks for something -instead of stealing it, he asks for Jane if she can teach him to dance. She takes his hand and dances the cobwebs off his coat and the darkness out of his soul. She leads him through the night and into the morning sunshine.

 

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2004 by Random House Children's Publishers UK .

Andrew Matthews is a celebrated children's author, who has written over fifty books and has twice been nominated for the Smarties prize. Ita Daly is an acclaimed Irish novelist. Her short stories have appeared in Irish, British and US magazines and anthologies, and she has won an Irish Times short story competition as well as two Hennessy Literary Awards. Bee Willey is a well-known artist, who has illustrated many best-selling treasuries and books of fairy tales.