One night, young Anna’s mother takes her to the ballet, and everything is changed. So begins the journey of a girl who will one day grow up to be the most famous prima ballerina of all time, inspiring legions of dancers after her: the brave, the generous, the transcendently gifted Anna Pavlova.
Dance
Taking Flight: From War Orphan To Star Ballerina
Michaela DePrince was known as girl Number 27 at the orphanage, where she is abandoned at a young age and tormented as a “devil child” for a skin condition that makes her skin appear spotted. But it is at the orphanage that Michaela finds a picture of a beautiful ballerina en pointe that would helps change the course of her life. At the age of four, Michaela is adopted by an American family, who encourage her love of dancing and enroll her in classes. She goes on to study at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at the American Ballet Theatre and is now the youngest principal dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. In this engaging, moving, and unforgettable memoir, Michaela shares her dramatic journey from an orphan in West Africa to becoming one of ballet’s most exciting rising stars.
Frances Dean, Who Loved To Dance And Dance
Frances Dean loves to dance. She feels the wind and she dances. She hears singing birds and she dances. In her every waking moment, she is inspired to move. But as soon as anyone is around, Frances Dean’s knees begin to tremble, butterflies start to flutter in her tummy, and she forgets how to dance.
Dance For The Land
When twelve-year-old Kate, who is half-white, moves to Hawaii with her brother and father, she becomes a victim of racial prejudice but also learns the meaning of her middle name.
Lupita’s First Dance / El Primer Baile De Lupita
Lupita is excited about dancing la raspa, a Mexican folk dance, with her first-grade class at a celebration of Children’s Day. But she’s devastated when she learns right before the show that her partner Ernesto sprained his right ankle.
Lupita’s First Dance / El Primer Baile De Lupita has been discussed in My Take/Your Take for September 2020.
Let’s Salsa / Bailemos Salsa
Estella can’t help but giggle when she sees her neighbors, Dona Rosa and Dona Maria, shaking their hips while dancing and sweating at an exercise class at the community recreation center. A few days later, when her mother complains about gaining weight, Estella encourages her to join the class.
Let’s Salsa / Bailemos Salsa has been discussed in My Take/Your Take for September 2020.
Little Ghost Party
Invites the reader to dance along with Little Ghost as he and his guests demonstrate such dances as The Worm. Tilting the book makes the illustrations appear to change, showing how specific actions can be performed.
Cinderella
The Man from the Land of Fandango
Illustrations and rhyming text introduce a dancing, juggling, bouncing man who appears once every five hundred years.
Various Positions
When talented, dedicated fourteen-year-old Georgia Slade becomes a student in an elite Toronto ballet academy, her confusing feelings toward one of her teachers lead to disaster.
