Every great performance starts long before the curtain rises, with friends who show up for each other.
Behind many children’s books is a real story, and behind Lori Ann Kozicky Goldstein’s Where’s Santa? The Sleigh Belle Dancers’ Mission and the Magic Shoe is a real dance team. The Sleigh Belle Dancers are a volunteer high kick and jazz ensemble that performs throughout the Twin Cities area of Minnesota during the holiday season. Goldstein is the team’s Director, and she wrote the book to celebrate their 20th anniversary, creating something truly special for the dancers, their families, and the community. The result is a holiday story about friendship and teamwork, told by someone who knows this team from the inside.
Every team has a story worth telling: Who are the friends who keep you dancing when things get hard?
A Holiday Team That Became Something More
The Sleigh Belle Dancers are volunteers, which means every high kick and every holiday show comes from people who simply love to perform and love to bring joy to their community. The back cover introduces them with a group photo: rows of smiling dancers in red dresses trimmed with white fur, sparkling headpieces in their hair. Readers in the Twin Cities may well have seen them at a holiday event, and the back cover invites everyone to learn more at sleighbelledancers.com.
Goldstein’s dedication to the team says what the photo cannot. She writes that what began as a holiday dance team became so much more, a special bond shared by ladies who stand together, support each other, and create memories that will last a lifetime. She thanks the dancers for inspiring the book’s pages with their friendship, laughter, strength, and love for one another. Those qualities are exactly what the story celebrates.
From the Real Stage to the Storybook Stage
In the book, the Sleigh Belle Dancers come to life as a cheerful line of performers in matching red costumes, with snowflake-sprinkled tops, white gloves, fluffy tutus, little Santa hats with jingle bells, and shiny red shoes. A sign reading “Sleigh Belle Dancers” hangs beside the stage in scene after scene, and a giant Christmas tree glows behind them. Young readers who dance will see themselves in these pages, and young readers who have never danced may want to start.
At the center of the team is Lulu Chasse, described as a very active Sleigh Belle Dancer. Fittingly, her last name echoes the chassé, a gliding step dancers know well. Lulu is the one who calls Santa to make sure every detail is in place, and she is the one whose shoe goes flying during the performance. She is energetic, determined, and a little bit unlucky, which makes her easy to root for. She is also never alone. Every big moment in her story happens with her teammates right beside her.
Teamwork in Every Scene
Look closely, and teamwork shows up on almost every page. The dancers line up together, wait together, and feel disappointed together when Santa does not arrive. Then, together, they decide to keep dancing, with smiles on their faces and hope in their hearts. When Lulu’s shoe sails into the crowd, the illustration shows her teammates gasping with their hands to their faces, every one of them feeling the moment with her. Nobody in this story faces a problem by herself.
The team’s work also reaches beyond the stage. When Santa’s hat fills with money for the dogs in training, the story explains that it was money Santa and the Sleigh Belles had raised together. Teamwork, in this book, is not just about dancing in step. It is about joining forces to help someone else. By the final scene, the dancers, Santa, the dogs in training, and the cheering crowd are all gathered under a banner that reads “A Joyful Celebration,” one big team sharing one unforgettable night.
- Who is on your team, at school, at home, or on the stage?
- What is one way you can cheer on a friend before a big performance?
A Gift for Families and Generations
Goldstein wrote this book with families in mind. Her author bio says she hopes the story brings smiles to children and families while spreading kindness during the holiday season. The book also carries a personal dedication to her granddaughter, Violet, celebrating her love of reading, her curiosity, and her dedication to learning, and encouraging her to dream big and never stop believing in herself. It is the kind of message grandparents hope to pass down, and the kind of book that becomes part of a family’s Christmas reading.
For dance families, the book is a keepsake of a team and a tradition. For everyone else, it is an invitation to see what friendship, teamwork, and a giving spirit can accomplish together. Read it with a young dancer before a holiday recital, share it with a classroom in December, or tuck it into a stocking for a child who loves Santa, sparkles, and puppies. And with the book’s proceeds going to Helping Paws Service Dogs of Minnesota, every reader gets to join the team too.
One dancer can light up a stage…
A team of friends can light up a whole room…
Twenty years of friendship can light up a story…
In Where’s Santa? The Sleigh Belle Dancers’ Mission and the Magic Shoe, Lori Ann Kozicky Goldstein celebrates the friends who keep the music playing and the holiday spirit alive!