The Bear Who Went to the Ballet - Hardcover

Jean Richardson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0751370304 ISBN 13: 9780751370300

Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd, 1995

Synopsis

Harriet is thrilled with her little bear dressed as a ballerina, but the bear cannot dance for the other toys. The solution to the bear's dilemma takes the reader through the world of dance, from Harriet's dance class to a gala performance of "The Sleeping Beauty" at the theatre.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

In this slightly sugary story, Harriet's grandmother sends her a special birthday gift: a bear dressed as a ballerina, holding tickets to a performance of The Sleeping Beauty. When Harriet bring the bear with her to the ballet, the other toys feel resentful, and challenge the bear to show them her dancing skills. Stalling for time, she audits Harriet's ballet class and secretly attempts some plies before sobbing, "Why am I dressed like a ballerina if I can't dance?" When she can no longer put off performing for the other toys, the brave bear admits she is no ballerina-but offers to relay the story of the ballet she witnessed on stage. She does this with such flair that her audience proclaims her a "real ballerina bear." Winter's (A Baby Just Like Me) suitably soft, pastel-hued illustrations make graceful transitions between the narrative's two dissimilar fantasy-based settings, the domain of the talking dolls and the ballet stage. Though precious, the tale delivers a neat lesson on the rewards of self-acceptance. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 4^-6. For her birthday, her grandma gives Harriet tickets to the ballet and a teddy bear dressed as a ballerina to take to the performance. When the ballerina bear returns from the theater and meets Harriet's other toys, they laugh at her: "How can a bear be a ballerina?" And, indeed, in Harriet's ballet class the ballerina bear discovers that her arms are too short and her legs too stout and inflexible to execu te the basic positions of classical ballet. Instead, she decides to become a storyteller and gains the respect of the toys by entrancing them with tales from the ballet. Young dancers (who may also have some trouble with the basic positions of classical ballet) will find the rotund ballet bear a sympathetic character, both in the story and in the soft-focus drawings tinted with gentle watercolor washes. Carolyn Phelan

About this edition

• Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0751370304
• ISBN 13: 9780751370300
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 30