Ballet Sisters: The Duckling and the Swan - Hardcover

Ormerod, Jan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439822815 ISBN 13: 9780439822817

Publisher: Cartwheel Books, 2007

Synopsis

The first book in a fun new series about two sisters who love ballet!

Little Sylvie likes to play dress-up and dance in the garden with her big sister. But Sylvie is too young for ballet class. And Sylvie does NOT want to be an elf in games of pretend.

When an unintentional haircut leaves Sylvie's hair too short for braids, big sister comes to the rescue by creating a set of braids from an old pair of tights!

New readers will delight in the funny antics of little Sylvie and in the patience of her big sister!

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 2—In this easy reader, two sisters like to put on dress-up clothes and dance. The older girl (the swan) is a slightly bossy school-age child who takes ballet lessons. Sylvie (the duckling) admires and often imitates her, but clearly has a mind of her own. In each of three short chapters, Ormerod uses dancing as a pretext to explore the ups and downs of their relationship. The language, for the most part, is clear, concise, and descriptive-essential qualities for beginning readers. The watercolor illustrations place the girls and their mother on a clean white background, which effectively highlights the expressive detail in their faces and postures. The words and pictures work well together and depict, with subtlety and humor, the emotional life of an ordinary family.—Rachael Vilmar, Atlanta Fulton Public Library, GA
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From Booklist:

The unnamed older sister, the story's narrator, takes ballet, and she is the swan. Younger sister Sylvie, a dancer wannabe, is the duckling. This story, with a simple text in a format that will attract beginning readers, follows the sisters as Sylvie tries to emulate her older sibling. Sometimes Sylvie is a willing supplicant, but sometimes she rebels. "I don't want to be an elf," she cries to Sis, who is dressed as the fairy queen. Occasionally, Sylvie's efforts to copy her sister backfire, as when she tries to neaten up her hair like her sister's and cuts it off by mistake. (Sister makes her an adorable braid wig from panty hose.) There's no real story here, but the sisterly relationship resonates, and Ormerod's distinctive illustrations, often featuring just the two girls against a white background, are as sweet as they can be. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Cartwheel Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0439822815
• ISBN 13: 9780439822817
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32