Book Review: Sadie the Ballerina

The new Willow Award nominees are out! The new Willow Award nominees are out! And I can't wait to read them all.

I decided to start with a little tale by Joan Betty Stuchner called (warning, there are spoilers located in the following link) Sadie the Ballerina, and I am so glad I did. Not only is it a delightful story, but Bruno St.-Aubin's illustrations are enchanting - all pink and swirling, just like a ballerina.

Sadie desperately wants to go to ballet school. She loves to point her toes and twirl and dance. Her mother, however, simply does not understand and says things to Sadie like, "Wouldn't it be more fun to go to clown school?"

When the ballet comes, though, her parent do take Sadie to see The Nutcracker. I especially like the description and the illustration when Sadie and her parents are walking through the lobby of the theatre. When the show begins, Sadie is entranced, especially with the lovely Sugar Plum Fairy and the handsome Nutcracker Prince. She becomes so overwhelmed, in fact, that she does something only Sadie would do. If you want to know what that is, you'll have to read the book. ;-)

If you have a girl who dances, or, even better, one who longs to dance, you must read this book to her. I read it to my younger boys, too, though, and they enjoyed Sadie's spirit and spontaniety, as well.