344O: Children’s picture book about girl who dances with shadows

Looking for a children’s picture book about a girl who lives in a village (likely indigenous, maybe based on cliff dwellers?). The villagers see scary shadows on the walls of the cliff they live at the bottom of and thinks they are monsters. Eventually the girl climbs to the top of the cliff (maybe with a grass? ladder) and discovers that the shadows weren’t monsters, but friendly (people or animals, can’t remember.) I read this book as a kid around 2000, my grandparents had bought it, so likely published between like 1990 and early 2000s. They’d traveled to Australia and American Southwest, and I think book was purchased one of those places. It was a hardcover with full color illustrations. Tried googling key words but can’t find it so far, help!

1 thought on “344O: Children’s picture book about girl who dances with shadows

  1. Bea

    sister of the questioner posting some edits/ further details here: the illustrations were realistic paintings or drawings. i do not think this was about australia – to me it was clearly about the anastazi in the southwestern us, like the cliffdwellers at mesa verde. I strongly suspect it was purchased at a national park bookstore. i had always thought the title was “the shadowdancer” but that doesn’t get any hits on google.

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