Angelina and Alice

Angelina Ballerina

by Katharine Holabird

Angelina and Alice

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Friendship, Animals

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Katharine Holabird is an American writer, best known as the author of the Angelina Ballerina series.

As a child, Holabird was an avid reader who loved fairy tales and stories about heroic animals, and she frequently saw ballets like Cinderella and Swan Lake with her grandmother. The young, imaginative Holabird loved animals, playing in her tree house, and dancing with her sisters. In 1969, she received a B.A. in literature from Bennington College in Vermont and then worked at Bennington College as a literary editor for a year after her graduation. Holabird then found herself in Italy as a freelance journalist where she met her husband, Michael Haggiag. The two married in 1974 and moved to London where she continued to write and worked at a nursery school.

In 1983, her first children’s book, Angelina Ballerina, was published. Holabird’s son, Adam, was her inspiration for the character Henry, and Angelina’s character was inspired by her daughters’ love for dressing up and dancing. Holabird wrote the first draft of Angelina Ballerina at the kitchen table with her daughters dancing around her. In fact, the Angelina books were originally about a girl, but then Craig drew a mouse, and Holabird loved it. “The impulsive character of Angelina came alive,” says Holabird, “and seemed to pirouette off the page with enthusiasm and energy, while her plump and ebullient body expressed drama and attitude in every twitch of her tail.” Angelina is a very emotional character; she is sensitive and often bursts into tears right before offering an apology. She struggles with her conscience but always ends up doing the right thing—which is very familiar to many young children. The universal childhood themes in Angelina include friendship, jealousy, loyalty, & dedication. Holabird’s goal was to realistically portray the difficulties of growing up. According to Holabird, it is a ballerina book for “all the passionate little dancers and performers in the world,” including her own two daughters, which is why she “decided to explore the impulsive, highly emotional character of a small but determined ballerina.”

The first American edition of Angelina Ballerina was published in 1984. A year later, Holabird received the Kentucky Bluegrass Award for Angelina Ballerina. In 1986 and 1987, she received the ALA Notable Book Awards. Angelina’s Christmas was selected as Child Study Association’s Children’s Book of the Year in 1987. The following year, Holabird and Craig published Alexander and the Dragon, their first Alexander book; it is aimed at preschool children who want to be consoled about bedtime monsters. In 1990, Holabird wrote the Alexander sequel, Alexander and the Magic Boat, which portrays a strong mother/son relationship while the two go on a voyage to imaginary worlds. Also in 1990, Holabird received the British Book Design and Production award.

In 1999, HIT Entertainment in London (known for Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, and Barney) secured the rights for Angelina Ballerina and commissioned Grand Slamm Children's Films to make an animated TV pilot. HIT also developed a lot of Angelina merchandise. Angelina made her worldwide television debut in 2001 on CITV in the United Kingdom. In 2002, the Angelina series premiered on PBS Kids TV in the United States. Angelina Ballerina’s Invitation to the Ballet received the prestigious Oppenheim Platinum Award in the U.S. in 2004. That same year, Angelina was named the official spokesperson of National Dance Week in the United States. In 2005, Angelina made her debut on PBS Kids Sprout, a twenty-four-hour digital television channel for preschoolers in the U.S.

Reviews

[La Coccinelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read another book about Angelina back in 2014 called Angelina's Big City Ballet . To be honest, I liked that one much better, even though it was a newer title. I expected Angelina and Alice, which was first published back in 1987, to be a lot stronger than it was.

Helen Craig's illustrations are adorable, and there's plenty to look at amongst the charming settings and murine characters. But the story in this one just felt really weak. Basically, Angelina tries to do a handstand and fails, which causes the older children to laugh. Alice laughs, too, and goes off to play with the older kids, shunning Angelina for a whole day, which traumatizes the poor little mouse. Then Alice asks Angelina to be her partner for the gymnastics display, and all is forgiven.

While children can be fickle and change their moods with head-spinning rapidity in real life, I don't think it works in a fictional story. I kept waiting for Alice to explain her behaviour (or at least apologize), but that never happened. Alice did help Angelina perfect her handstand, but not another word was said about the cruel behaviour. That just didn't sit right with me.

The illustrations are so cute, though, that fans of Angelina Ballerina will probably want this book for their collections (if they don't have it already). The book could spark an interesting discussion about kindness (or lack thereof) on the playground.

[C.D. Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alice doesn't offer an apology for laughing at her friend which I pointed out to my child is unkind since the author didn't. In the end, Alice wants to be her partner and all is forgiven. Not my preference, but my child didn't notice.

[Jessica Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved dance and gymnastics as a little girl, so this book is super nostalgic for that. The storyline is nice, and the illustrations are lovely as always.

[Lisa Overberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Angelina is back at it again in this loveable story about her friendship with Alice. Alice and Angelina are best friends who do everything together. They love to do acrobatics and practice every day. One day when Alice is hanging out with some older children, they make fun of Angelina's handstand when she falls. Angelina's feelings are hurt and she begins to be isolated from the group. Angelina feels sick to her stomach and wants to not go to school anymore. In gym class, Angelina was left out again when picking partners for a gymnastics routine. Alice asks her to be her partner and they work hard together as friends. One thing that I didn't like about this book is that Alice never apologized to Angelina. There was not any acknowledgement of what she did to her which bothers me. I don't believe I would use it in a classroom setting teaching children. It did not address the most important aspect of conflict: taking responsibility and trying to make things right.

Interest Level: Grades K - 2
Reading Level: Grade level Equivalent: 3.7
Lexile Measure®: 720L
DRA: Not Available
Guided Reading: M

[Heart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love Angelina Ballerina! I grew up watching her. I don't think I've read any of the books though. I happened to find this one for a dollar and decided to pick it up and check it out. The story was cute yet sad. When a friend laughs at you because other kids are laughing at you is never a good feeling—especially when you're not laughing along. Alice started to ignore Angelina and hang out with the older kids(the ones who laughed at Angelina) And everyone kept teasing Angelina about her falling which really hurt her feelings. It's good that Alice and Angelina made up(Only because Alice didn't have a partner for Gym) but it's sad that Alice never apologized.
I'm sure this is a story many can relate too.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angelina has trouble with a headstand and when the other kids laugh, so does her BFF who then walks off and ignores her. It's absolutely cruel and Angelina is understandably upset. As with many kids though, everything blows over quickly and the two become friends. But I'm kind of mad at Alice, because friends don't act the way she does in this book without apologizing. There wasn't any kind of real resolution to this story which I wish there was.

The illustrations are still beautiful and spot on, so for that I'm bumping this up to 3 stars. This had serious problems though to where I'd want to talk about Alice's behavior with my child if I were reading it to them, just to help them understand what SHOULD have happened.

[Kaitlyn Barrouk · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Angelina and Alice" is a children's picture book intended for ages 4-8. In this book, Angelina and Alice quickly become best friends who love doing gymnastics together. The only problem is that Alice could do a perfect handstand, but Angelina couldn't. Angelina got bullied for it and Alice joined in with them. Eventually, with the help of Alice, Angelina could do a handstand. I loved this book. The story shows the importance of teamwork and true friends. Even though Alice laughed at her at first, she came back to help Angelina and was a real friend. I think the message is very obvious to children and a great story.

[Blaine Gerdes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the focus of the book, in the beginning Angelina struggles with her cartwheels and falls. At one point others make fun of her for not being able to do a cartwheel which isn't nice but does happen in real life. Alice helps Angelina to master her handstand and cartwheel which shows she is a good friend but the making fun of Angelina was never addressed. The book ends with the gymnastics class performing at the village festival.

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet story of friendship, and rodent gymnastics.

[Kathleen Louise Madden Hemingway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how this book teaches about what can hurt a friendship and that feelings can manifest as illness and that laughing can be painful. This is an excellent book for preschool through 2nd grade.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angelina illustrations are always really pretty, classy and nicely done. In this Angelina adventure, Angelina meets Alice and they become best of friends. They spend many days at school playing together, until one day Angelina falls while trying to do a handstand. When Alice joins the other and laughs and then runs off with the other girls, Angelina believes that they can no longer be friends. Then one day, Mr. Hopper, the sports teacher, announces that they must pair off to start working on a show for the village festival. Angelina and Alice end up having to pair off. They quickly become friends again and Alice helps Angelina learn how to make a handstand. The show for the festival is a hit. This is an AR 4.2 level book.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Angelina is really good friends with Alice. They do all sorts of gymnastics together. Angelina wasn't so good at doing handstands, and she gets embarrassed one time she did it at the playground and fell on her bottom. She gets called a name, "Angelina Tumbelina." The worst part is that her good friend Alice giggles and this...and goes off to play with these bigger kids that had laughed at Angelina.

The thing I didn't like about this story was that Alice appears again later during gym class, but there's no mention about feeling sorry or saying sorry to Angelina for laughing at her when other kids were making fun of her.

[Justin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Katharine Holabird's Angelina books will all stand the test of time. I did not rate this one "did not like it" because the writing or illustrations were any less beautiful than usual; they were wonderful, as always. I simply did not like the entire theme of this one. Children's lives are faced with enough challenges, so I felt reading about Angelina's feelings of perceived abandonment by her best friend and the resulting despair was a bit too dark for my 4-year-old daughter when we read this. Admittedly, all Angelina books contain an element of inner drama with which Angelina must learn to cope as she grows, but this theme seemed better reserved for older audiences.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This time Angelina is fearful her new friend has deserted her and she needs a partner for the gymnastics show. What I loved was the illustrations of the mice in their gym attire.

Obviously as I read this in 2021, this is a reissue of an older title in the Angelina Ballerina series and I continued to enjoy it as this time I was focusing on the friendship aspect of the schoolyard and how realistic and true to life it is.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I know this series of books is the literary equivalent of of cotton candy but I really like it anyway. The author always writes about really "girly" activities like ballet, gymnastics, acting, and so forth. The pictures are also appropriately girly with lots of pink and delicate lines. I think they could be a great way to interest a reluctant reader.

[Jessica Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about two friends that hang out all the time until one friend hangs out with older kids and starts making fun of the other kid. At the end of the book, they become best friends again. I think the message of this book is that friends stick together in the end! I would read this book just for fun.

[Koko Nata · Rating 3 out of 5]

buku yang menceritakan persahabatan dua tikus bernama Angelina dan Alice yang suka sekali olahraga senam. Sayangnya Anglina kurang begitu mahir berdiri tegak dengan kedua tangannya sehingga ia ditertawakan oleh teman-temannya. Untunglah Alice mau menjadi pelatihnya sehingga keduanya mampu memamerkan kemampuan akrobatik mereka pada festival desa

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angelina and Alice are friends. They get along very well and like the same things. They are different but they like being with one another. But, when Angelina falls and the older girls laugh at her, Alice laughs too and suddenly everything falls apart. This book is a wonderful tale of budding friendship and the dangers we face with our friends everyday. =)

[Seth Lebaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very good example of how we can hurt each others feelings but just doing little things that have big consequences, and how working together to help one another is more beneficial that opposing one another. I would use this book to open a line of discussion to my students about how we are supposed to treat one another.

[Dave Lester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angelina Ballerina, in this episode, meets Alice who can do cartwheels, somersaults and hanging upside down better. People laugh at Angelina when she tries to do them. Angelina and Alice learn how to have a friendship through all of this. Another book that I read to my daughter while on vacation at Arch Cape in OR.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun story about friendship and cooperation, especially for Angelina Ballerina fans. The illustrations are very cute, typical for this series of books; our girls loved the gymnastics scenes the best.

[Eirene Ritznore · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a little girl, all I wanted to do was learn how to twirl the ribbons in synchronization with the other mice at the Mousle school. And I loved how Alice turned out to be a good egg in the end. It just makes me smile at the sweetness.

[Brianne Larson]

Angelina Ballerina is a wonderful little dancer and many little children may enjoy this story, especially if they are fans of the Angelina Ballerina TV show. Angelina is sweet and kind and has a good heart.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that we have a girl we can read girl books! We love all of Angelina's adventures!

[J-Lynn Van Pelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Angelina Ballerina book by Holabird, Angelina gets made fun of after she takes a tumble while dancing, but eventually she gets her friend back just in time to have a happy ending.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hit with my 3 year old.

[Stevie]

It is about these two rats name Anglina and Alice and there doing a show about gymnastics. But one thing that Angelina could'nt do a straist handstand.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

39 months - O always likes to read about Angelina. In this one we see Angelina isn't perfect but with help from a friend and lots of practice anything is possible.

[Alexandria K · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Alice and Angelina spend time together, but mice come along and laugh at Angelina.

[Kelly Whelchel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to your students when your notice other students are bullying other students. This will set an example of team-work, success and failure.