Beautiful Ballerinas

Written by Elizabeth Dombey
Illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas

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Becoming a ballerina is the dream of many little girls and this book tells them exactly how to make it happen.

It is a charming combination of cartoon like watercolor paintings of little girls and boys inter-mixed with beautiful photographs of real ballerinas at practice and in performance.

The vocabulary of ballet is explained in text and illustrations. Readers are encouraged to try what they see in the pictures on their way to becoming ballerinas. There is a lengthy explanation of pointe shoes that includes their history, their manufacture, and the length of time that they last. Readers will be surprised to learn how many different pairs of pointe shoes a professional ballerina might go through in one year.

The history of the dance is told in the last section of the book.

The book has been designed and written for second grade readers and third grade readers in mind as well as the core curriculum. Children are interested in the arts and enjoy learning more about them.

It will be a wonderful read aloud for librarians, teachers, parents and ballet teachers, too.

  • Beautiful BallerinasTitle: Beautiful Ballerinas
  • Author: Elizabeth Dombey
  • Illustrator: Shelagh McNicholas
  • Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap, January 2014
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: paperback/unpaged
  • ISBN:  978-0-448-46714-6
  • Genre: narrative nonfiction
  • Grades: K to 3

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