My First Ballet Class: A Book with Foldout Pages

by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, Leyah Jensen (Photographer)

Sweet text from bestselling author Alyssa Satin Capucilli takes readers through their very first day at ballet class! This 9 x 9 paper-over-board book features striking photographs and whimsical drawn images. Cardstock pages with large fold-out panels feature detailed step-by-step instructions for each ballet position. Each cardstock page folds out into a large 18 x 18 inch page that reveals detailed descriptions of actual dance instructions!

The story of Miss Lavender and her young ballerinas will entice young readers to emulate their simple movements again and again! Thanks to this interactive book, aspiring ballerinas can practice their dance steps wherever they go!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction

14 pages, Hardcover

First published April 5, 2011

About the author

Alyssa Satin Capucilli was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1957. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, and pursued her interest in dance, becoming a professional dancer and dance instructor. Though Capucilli had written stories, poems, and even puppet shows as a child, she didn't consider a career as a writer until after her own two children were born. To this day she sees herself as both a dancer and a writer, and the two professions complement each other nicely: dancing is, in her words, “telling stories in another way,” and readers of her children's books can attest to the rhythm of her language. Since 1994, she has written more than 15 books for children, and her work has been translated into French, Hebrew, Afrikaans, Greek, and Bulgarian.

Capucilli lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, with her husband and children. They have a chocolate Labrador retriever named Huckleberry, who likes to watch the author at work.

Reviews

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book*]

Capucilli, Alyssa My First Ballet Class, EARLY READER. Simon & Schuster. 2016. Content: G.

A Ready-to-Read book that ballet dancers will love! Ballet class is fun. Read the account of a young dancer's experience in class. After the description of what happens in class, there are several pages that give step by step instructions on how to try some ballet moves where ever you are. This book has real pictures and readers can feel like they have experienced their very first class. If a young dancer wants to calm their nerves about trying ballet or just enjoy comparing their own dance experience with that in the book, they can read and follow along.

PRE-K, EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL. Reviewer: Amy, Elementary Teacher.
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017...

[J.]

J: it was just awesome because I love love love ballet, so I loved it so much.

Mom: J has read 100 books now. Mostly Bob Books, and the Ready To Read - Ready to Go (purple headers), and a few phonics sets. I’m pretty sure this is her first Ready to Read - Pre-Level One (light blue headers). She did awesome! I love the Ready to Read series. They’re the only major publisher I’ve found that actually has beginner readers for the very beginner. J is very interested in ballet, so it was able to keep her attention through the longer-than-typical-for-her book. She also loves Fancy Nancy, so she was very excited about the French Words (plié for example.)

[Christie Kaaland]

A surprisingly detailed account of a young girl's first experience in ballet class. A beginning reader book with only a sentence or two per page using simple language with plenty of white space as illustrations show scenes from ballet class. Details include many ballet terms and show positions as well as peripheral details of the culture of ballet.

[Carter]

I learned some ballet from this book.

[Jennifer Huff]

Audience: The audience for this book is primary elementary school. Because of the explanations and the age of the children present in this book, I think it would best fit preschool and kindergarteners.

Appeal: I think this book would appeal to preschoolers and kindergarteners because those little girls love ballerinas and dancing. This is the age when they would just be starting to dance, so the concepts laid out would be a review or a preview for what they may be learning in class or could learn. The pop-up sections of the book would also really get the kids excited because they would love to see more of dancing and think it would be fun to turn the pages in a different way.

Application: I might use this book as a "deskercise" routine to get the kids up and moving, but I would also use it as a form of comprehension. I would have the students follow along with the book with me and later if they could do the moves again then they have grasped the concepts, and if they didn't then I know that I need to fix something in my teaching or apply more time or a different strategy to those students.

Copyright: 2011

[Megan]

Adorable! The cover is so cute that I can't stand it!

[Courtney]

My daughter enjoyed the photographs, wish it was a more realistic setting than a stark white background. Didn't care too much for the writing-- parts were confusing.

[Joy]

Adorable photos take the youngest aspiring ballerinas through their first dance class. Nice description of each position.

[☼Pam Might Read Too Much ☼]

~ from the Library

I thought this book was adorable. And I loved that there were boys shown as well as little girls. As far as reading information there are 157 words in a large font. The book is at the 1st Grade Reading Level. Accelerated Reader - 1.3

MY FIRST BALLET CLASS would be a great book to show to little ones what ballet class is like. With kid-friendly pictures it shows what little ballet dancers wear and that their instructors will give them instructions, and that they will learn specific moves at the barre.

Since ballet lessons aren't available to every child, there is a section at the back where a child demonstrates some basic steps. She uses a standard chair and demonstrates moves like plie and chasse.

~
Little ballet fans who can read at the first grade level can use this book as a practice reader. Younger children will like looking at the pictures and sharing it with you at lap time.

I think Capucilli has done a smart little book.