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Little Ballet Star
Readers are invited to join Tilly for her special birthday treat as she discovers the bustle and excitement behind the scenes at a real ballet performance. From backstage warm-ups, to a trip to the dressing room, to an unexpected wardrobe change?Tilly is just like a real ballerina. The only thing that could make her day even more thrilling? The chance to shine on stage! This charming story captures the delight and anticipation of attending an actual ballet, and makes a perfect gift for every aspiring ballerina.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 13, 2008
About the author
Adèle Geras
190 books138 followersAdèle Geras FRSL (born 15 March 1944) is an English writer for young children, teens and adults. Her husband was the Marxist academic Norman Geras and their daughter Sophie Hannah is also a novelist and poet.
Geras was born in Jerusalem, British Mandatory Palestine. Her father was in the Colonial Service and she had a varied childhood, living in countries such as Nigeria, Cyprus, Tanzania, Gambia and British North Borneo in a short span of time. She attended Roedean School in Brighton and then graduated from St Hilda's College, Oxford with a degree in Modern Languages. She was known for her stage and vocal talents, but decided instead to become a full-time writer.
Geras's first book was Tea at Mrs Manderby's, which was published in 1976. Her first full-length novel was The Girls in the Velvet Frame. She has written more than 95 books for children, young adults, and adults. Her best-known books are Troy (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal) Ithaka, Happy Ever After (previously published as the Egerton Hall Trilogy), Silent Snow, Secret Snow, and A Thousand Yards of Sea.
Her novels for adults include: Facing the Light, Hester's Story, Made in Heaven, and A Hidden Life.
Geras won two prizes in the United States, one the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the My Grandmother's Stories and the National Jewish Book Award for Golden Windows. She has also won prizes for her poetry and was a joint winner of the Smith Doorstop Poetry Pamphlet Award, offered by the publisher of that name.
(from Wikipedia)
Geras was born in Jerusalem, British Mandatory Palestine. Her father was in the Colonial Service and she had a varied childhood, living in countries such as Nigeria, Cyprus, Tanzania, Gambia and British North Borneo in a short span of time. She attended Roedean School in Brighton and then graduated from St Hilda's College, Oxford with a degree in Modern Languages. She was known for her stage and vocal talents, but decided instead to become a full-time writer.
Geras's first book was Tea at Mrs Manderby's, which was published in 1976. Her first full-length novel was The Girls in the Velvet Frame. She has written more than 95 books for children, young adults, and adults. Her best-known books are Troy (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal) Ithaka, Happy Ever After (previously published as the Egerton Hall Trilogy), Silent Snow, Secret Snow, and A Thousand Yards of Sea.
Her novels for adults include: Facing the Light, Hester's Story, Made in Heaven, and A Hidden Life.
Geras won two prizes in the United States, one the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the My Grandmother's Stories and the National Jewish Book Award for Golden Windows. She has also won prizes for her poetry and was a joint winner of the Smith Doorstop Poetry Pamphlet Award, offered by the publisher of that name.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 4, 2010
When I first read this I thought, gosh, every little ballerina is going to love this story! I shared it with my beginning ballet students (all girls, around age 6) and they did, indeed, love it! It tells the story of a little girl who has started taking ballet and her aunt happens to be the prima ballerina with a ballet company. For her birthday, the little girl gets to go to the theater with her aunt and see backstage, including the costume room (swoon!) and the dressing rooms where she watches the ballerinas put on their make-up and even gets a little flutter of blush on her own cheeks (what could be better!?). She watches the ballerinas warm-up, then joins her mom to watch the performance! At the end, there is a special surprise for this birthday girl ballerina.
This book really is lovely! There is nothing really "special" in the storytelling in terms of style, but gosh, it highlights all the aspects of performing that kids (and many adults!) love, and it shows the magic not only of theater but of children being invited into the sparkling world of grown-ups they love. The illustrations are nice, striking the balance between lovely ballet lines and child-appeal. Highly recommended for all budding ballerinas :-)
This book really is lovely! There is nothing really "special" in the storytelling in terms of style, but gosh, it highlights all the aspects of performing that kids (and many adults!) love, and it shows the magic not only of theater but of children being invited into the sparkling world of grown-ups they love. The illustrations are nice, striking the balance between lovely ballet lines and child-appeal. Highly recommended for all budding ballerinas :-)
March 9, 2009
The perfect aspiring ballerina book for the preschool/kinder crowd! Well illustrated and peppered with ballet terms will have your little ballerina imitating the pictures and adopting the terminology! Even cooler, it has a little boy in the ballet class who loves to dance and stomp like a dinosaur and doesn't make him out to be wimpy or girly.
The little girl in this one attends ballet classes and loves to dance. She looks up to her aunt, a professional ballerina, and even gets to experience a ballet from the back stage. This one will completely charm the little girl who loves to dance.
This by far is one of my favorites in the pink-and-purple-princess-ballerina-books genre. A definite breath of fresh air if you have been stuck in the Angelina Ballerina series or left a little let down with the Peter Sis picture book on ballet.
The little girl in this one attends ballet classes and loves to dance. She looks up to her aunt, a professional ballerina, and even gets to experience a ballet from the back stage. This one will completely charm the little girl who loves to dance.
This by far is one of my favorites in the pink-and-purple-princess-ballerina-books genre. A definite breath of fresh air if you have been stuck in the Angelina Ballerina series or left a little let down with the Peter Sis picture book on ballet.
May 13, 2009
Hannah chose this perfectly pink ballet book from the library and it is wonderful. It is full of tutus and pink and ballet and satin ballet shoes with ribbon and Hannah loved every page of it. A little girl gets to go see "backstage" at the ballet with her aunt who is a prima ballerina. It is a sweet, gentle story...perfect to share with your favorite little girl!
May 19, 2011
Sweet story, but aren't the enough pink books for girls about ballet in the world?
September 12, 2024
Sweet book! Love all the pink and tutus!
December 20, 2018
A story of a little girls ballet dreams coming true. She gets a tour backstage of a real theatre and even gets to dance on stage.
Perfect story for ballet lovers.
Add to my collection.
Perfect story for ballet lovers.
Add to my collection.
March 4, 2011
A year ago the local dance studio started offering in school classes at my daughter's school. Harriet was immediately smitten with the idea even though she had just barely turned three. I told her I would come to the free introductory class and see how she did. If she paid attention, had fun and was willing to put in the work to learn her dance routines, I would enroll her in the class. She agreed and I went to the class. She was the most focused child in the class. I think a lot of the other parents had pushed their kids into trying the class but Harriet was there willingly. She loved the class and so we enrolled her.
Six months ago we got a note in the folder where we sign her in and out of preschool saying the dance studio was putting together its annual dance recital. While it wasn't mandatory, participating was highly encouraged. I remembered with dread the recitals I had gone through at Harriet's age and thought about ignoring the invitation. It would mean extra work, extra expenses and possibly a bad experience for Harriet.
As tempting as that was, I didn't just ignore the invitation. Nor did I just flat out tell my daughter she couldn't participate. It wasn't exactly my decision to make. She'd be the one doing the work and putting on the performance, not me. So I told her all about the recital and read her the invitation and asked her if she was willing to do all the extra work including going to studio sometimes on the weekends if she was required. It didn't take her more than about a second to come to a decision. It was a "Yes!" with some added hops of enthusiasm.
HarrietTo prepare her for her experience, I checked out Little Ballet Star by Adèle Geras and Shelagh McNicholas. The book is about a young girl who is studying ballet and has an aunt who is dancing on stage for the ballet. It's Tilly's birthday and goes dressed up in her favorite tutu and is invited backstage with her aunt as she prepares for her performance.
The book shows all the work that goes into putting on a ballet and being a ballet dancer. Harriet listened to the book very seriously. I think she was taking mental notes. Later, at the end of the performance, Tilly's aunt invites her on stage to dance a brief encore together.
I don't know if the book helped or not but Harriet did every piece of her recital preparation, from learning her song, her dance routine, getting measured for her costume, having her photograph taken, going to the dress rehearsal to her actual performance with professionalism and enthusiasm. When it came to the day of the performance, we had to leave her backstage with her teacher and later she and her dance partner sat up in the balcony with the other performers (all of whom were older). You'd think she'd been performing all her life. Of her class of four only Harriet and her best friend participated on stage. They were the youngest duo on stage and were adorable.
Six months ago we got a note in the folder where we sign her in and out of preschool saying the dance studio was putting together its annual dance recital. While it wasn't mandatory, participating was highly encouraged. I remembered with dread the recitals I had gone through at Harriet's age and thought about ignoring the invitation. It would mean extra work, extra expenses and possibly a bad experience for Harriet.
As tempting as that was, I didn't just ignore the invitation. Nor did I just flat out tell my daughter she couldn't participate. It wasn't exactly my decision to make. She'd be the one doing the work and putting on the performance, not me. So I told her all about the recital and read her the invitation and asked her if she was willing to do all the extra work including going to studio sometimes on the weekends if she was required. It didn't take her more than about a second to come to a decision. It was a "Yes!" with some added hops of enthusiasm.
HarrietTo prepare her for her experience, I checked out Little Ballet Star by Adèle Geras and Shelagh McNicholas. The book is about a young girl who is studying ballet and has an aunt who is dancing on stage for the ballet. It's Tilly's birthday and goes dressed up in her favorite tutu and is invited backstage with her aunt as she prepares for her performance.
The book shows all the work that goes into putting on a ballet and being a ballet dancer. Harriet listened to the book very seriously. I think she was taking mental notes. Later, at the end of the performance, Tilly's aunt invites her on stage to dance a brief encore together.
I don't know if the book helped or not but Harriet did every piece of her recital preparation, from learning her song, her dance routine, getting measured for her costume, having her photograph taken, going to the dress rehearsal to her actual performance with professionalism and enthusiasm. When it came to the day of the performance, we had to leave her backstage with her teacher and later she and her dance partner sat up in the balcony with the other performers (all of whom were older). You'd think she'd been performing all her life. Of her class of four only Harriet and her best friend participated on stage. They were the youngest duo on stage and were adorable.
April 1, 2008
Well, naturally Tilly's aunt is the star of "The Sleeping Beauty" and she gets to go backstage and see everything. And of course she gets a pink fairy costume and gets to come on stage and dance with her aunt.
It's all a little too much for me. But the art makes up for the story line--there is charm in every line, and the dancers are well drawn. I especially like the backstage scene, with dancers holding onto the scenery as they stretch before the show. But then, I'm a balletomane myself...
It's all a little too much for me. But the art makes up for the story line--there is charm in every line, and the dancers are well drawn. I especially like the backstage scene, with dancers holding onto the scenery as they stretch before the show. But then, I'm a balletomane myself...
November 5, 2010
A little girl's dream come true: for her birthday, she gets to go backstage before the performance of Sleeping Beauty, put on a costume and some makeup, see the stage and hang out with her aunt, the star of the show! The magic doesn't end there, and the narrative combined with the nicely detailed illustrations transform the story into a special tale, perfect for any little ballerina.
March 1, 2013
I have read this book to my two daughters more times than I can count. It is the first book they pick from our library basket. It's a tale of a little girl who goes to the ballet for her birthday and is given a backstage tour before sitting in the audience to watch the performance of Sleeping Beauty.
March 21, 2008
I'm such a sucker for ballet picture books. A story of a little girl going to her first ballet, Sleeping Beauty. But her aunt is one of the dancers so the little girl gets to go backstage and see what happens before the show.
December 17, 2015
Fun book for little ballerinas. A little girl gets to go to visit her aunt at the ballet for her birthday. Her aunt is the prima ballerina and takes her on a tour before the ballet starts. My little ballerinas loved it!
September 28, 2016
my daughter really enjoyed this book. she spent the night dancing around the living room. I thought that this had great illustrations and it gave a little behind the scenes look at a ballet. I would recommend this book to others.
September 2, 2008
I get asked to read this book every day.
October 31, 2008
I totally loved this book. I love the pictures and the story. This would've been my dream back when I was doing ballet.
August 14, 2009
rated 5 stars by my 2.5 yo "ballerina" dd. Very cute illustrations. She has learned lots of positions from re-reading this book over & over again.
January 13, 2010
A little longer but Libby loved the illustrations and would love to go and see Sleeping Beauty to music since she knows the story she doesn't need the words.
August 30, 2011
Bella loved it, we have read it every night this week. =)
January 27, 2012
Another library favorite that we need to just buy.
September 13, 2013
52 months - O loved this book and we read it many times before it went back to the library. The ballet in the story was Sleeping Beauty which is her favorite.
September 4, 2013
A cute little story geared more for little girls. Cute well done pictures and illustrations to help depict and move the story along.
March 26, 2014
Inane wish-fulfillment with no redeeming value. This book only exists to be pink.
July 22, 2015
Aunt Gina is the coolest, and Tilly learns the importance of connections. It's all about who you know, and you might as well learn that from a young age.
June 9, 2016
My 4 year old daughter adores this book, and her 5 year old brother likes it too. This story is charming and sweet and I love the sweet illustrations.
September 25, 2016
Not my favorite but my daughter loved it!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews