ALA Booklist (Sun May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

Ursula's dream of winning the big prize in the water ballet championship has gone down the drain. She is a polar bear, and a new rule excluding bears from the competition (they are too hairy) prompts her partner (a caddish human) to dump her and quickly find a giraffe to work with. Heartbroken, Ursula soon discovers a diverse water ballet group that has several bears on their team and have been banned from the pool as well. Still, they stick together and welcome Ursula. When the team sneaks into the competition and performs, the audience is so enthusiastic that all are now welcome to use the pool. While Ursula's story touches on many themes amwork, loyalty, fairness, diversity e text is brief and lighthearted. The airy illustrations, featuring an amazing range of animals with a few humans sprinkled in, and ample touches of humor further lighten the tone. Ursula and her cohorts create quite a stir with their graceful moves, and Starin's charming story and illustrations will do the same.

Horn Book (Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Ursula is heartbroken: the new "no bears" regulation at the pool means she can't compete in the water ballet competition; even worse, her (human) partner ditches her. But Ursula joins a new team, and together the diverse animal and human competitors show everyone that discrimination has no place in water ballet or the pool. This quirky story should spark conversation about inclusivity and acceptance.

Kirkus Reviews

After being excluded, a polar bear gets her turn to shine.Ursula (the polar bear) and Ricardo (a dark-haired white man with a mustache and soul patch) are in a public pool practicing their routine for an upcoming water-ballet competition. They twirl, splash, and leap with precision. But one day, the pool management decides that bears are no longer welcome. It should be noted that a menagerie of animals is in the water at all times, but bears are suddenly too hairy. Ursula believes that dressing up like a rabbit will solve the problem, but Ricardo has already found a new partner: Hortense the giraffe. Ursula is dejected. She slinks to the local pond to practice water ballet by herself. There, she meets a new group (some bears but other animals as well), and they decide to storm the competition. Ricardo and Hortense win first place, but the ursine group captures the hearts of the crowd, and a more important victory is won. The pool becomes a welcome place for everyone again. This is certainly a creative spin on inclusivity—an issue never before approached through agile polar-bear paw positions or the graceful lifting of camels in the air. Starin's anthropomorphized cats, chickens, crocs, and more (along with amusing asides in the background) steal the show.It's a consciously silly pretense, but discussion possibilities abound, and there's no question it's funny. (Picture book. 4-7)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

What starts as a loopy tale about an interspecies water ballet competition gradually reveals itself to be a call for solidarity and resistance in the face of injustice. Ursula, a polar bear, and her partner Ricardo, a human, have -trained and trained- to win the water ballet championship and its $1 million prize. But when the swimming pool suddenly banishes bears for being -too hairy,- Ricardo unceremoniously dumps Ursula for a giraffe. Despondent at first (she -cried for a week- under her kitchen table), Ursula joins forces with a new multispecies group that stands by its bear members. With a little subterfuge, they win the biggest prize of all: reopening the swimming pool to everyone. Whether the action is underwater or on dry land, Starin (Roar!) has a loose, offhand style and gentle wit that invite readers to dive headfirst into a world where rhinos wear bikinis and water ballet moves include the -Mary Lou Boogaloo- and -Half Twist Chanterelle.- Ursula, with her ability to turn personal betrayal into collective triumph, may remind adult readers of the heroines of ShondaLand. Ages 4-7. Agent: Jennifer Mattson, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (June)

School Library Journal (Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

PreS-Gr 2 Ursula, a polar bear, and her human friend, Ricardo, are set to enter a water ballet contest until a new rule bans bears from the pool. When Ursula shows up next day disguised as a rabbit, she discovers Ricardo has deserted her for a new partner. Although immersed in sadness, Ursula begins to practice her ballet moves in the neighborhood pond, where she meets a group of performers, including a brown bear named Ralph, who are also barred from the contest. Together they perfect their routine and hatch a plan. After all the contestants perform on the big day, Ricardo and his giraffe partner are declared winners. But they are overlooked when a chorus of "Ready&30;Set&30;Goooooooooo!" announces the unauthorized entrance of Ursula and her water ballet companions, who dazzle the audience with their "complicated routine" and Ursula's "triple banana flip" finale. Although they have not won this contest, Ralph assures Ursula they have indeed scored a victory, for a page turn reveals a new pool rule: "Everyone Welcome!" The watercolor and crayon illustrations greatly enrich the brief text and add many touches of humor, from the title page scene of bear and human enclosed in separate shower curtains to a list of such pool rules as "no frolicking; no lollygagging; [and] no filibustering&30;." Ursula's rabbit costume and home furnishings as well as announcements on signs and T-shirts afford added chuckles. Alert readers can even check out the title on the rabbit lifeguard's book. VERDICT The message that loyalty and inclusiveness are important is a valuable one to share with children. Don't hesitate to jump into this pool. Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA