This is a retelling of the bib­li­cal tale in which Miri­am, Moses’s sis­ter, helps the Chil­dren of Israel escape slav­ery in Egypt and con­tin­ue their jour­ney to The Promised Land.

Moses can­not under­stand why Miri­am brings beau­ti­ful danc­ing shoes along with her on the trek through the desert. After the famous split­ting of the sea, though, his fol­low­ers do not know which way to go; con­fu­sion reigns and peo­ple are bewil­dered. They can­not see Moses and his raised staff at the front of the long line of Jews.

Then Miri­am, wear­ing her col­or­ful danc­ing shoes, gives the peo­ple hope and direc­tion. They are able to fol­low her and her shoes as they dance their way along the sea’s now dry floor, con­tin­u­ing their jour­ney in peace and safety.

In a short after­word, the author asks chil­dren to iden­ti­fy with the strug­gling peo­ple who are afraid and unsure of what to do. She encour­ages them to con­nect with Miri­am and Moses and to forge their own ways for­ward through their lives. Deep, bold, rich­ly col­ored illus­tra­tions draw read­ers into the sto­ry and pro­vide an atmos­phere of hope and joy. Sev­er­al activ­i­ties geared to chil­dren are includ­ed, enhanc­ing the theme. A musi­cal com­po­si­tion by David Sas­so presents notes and lyrics to a song evok­ing Miriam’s dance. Two art projects — one a re-cre­ation of the part­ing of the sea using tis­sue paper, paint, and fab­ric, and the oth­er a make-your-own tam­bourine — help those who learn best by hands-on activ­i­ty to absorb the mes­sage of the book. A recap of the Exo­dus sto­ry, includ­ing a focus on Miri­am and tra­di­tions sur­round­ing her, give this love­ly pic­ture book an added dimension.