I Dreamed I Was a Ballerina

A cute story mixed with beautiul artwork. A treasure. I'm gonna pass this on to my future little ones.

I began taking my grandaughter to the ballet when she was 3 years old. By 5, she knew the stories and music to all the classics and began ballet lessons at the Washington Ballet. Now, at 7, during the holiday, she is dancing one of the leading children's roles in Septime Webre's Nutcracker. I bought this book because I wanted to introduce her to the history of this beautiful art. Not only did she love the story, but, additionally, she was facinated by the Degas images and drawings. We ended up spending more time learning about "Impressionism" than Anna Pavlova. She loved the softness of the images and plied me with questions about the way Degas painted. Because of that discussion, I bought her an additional book about "The Little Ballerina" statue that Degas fashioned. That led to my descriptions of The Louvre, the copy of the statue in The Metropolitan Museum and a promise that this summer, for her 8th birthday, I would take her to New York to see Swan Lake danced by the American Ballet Theater and the Metropolitan Museum to see the copy of "The Little Ballerina" statue by Degas. I could never have imagined that this book would be so stimulating. The best part was sharing the story, answering her multiple questions, watching her enthusiasm while I read the story (even though she could have read it herself)and knowing that a child's curiousity was joyously working overtime.

My 3-year-old great niece is really into ballet, and she loves having this book read to her. The story is so well written, I'm sure this book will continue to be one of her favorites for years to come.

Yes, this is a beautiful, moving story of a girl's dream come true. I bought it for my 6 year-old grandaughter who loves her ballet lessons. I hope the book will encourage her to pursue her own dreams, whatever they may be. This is an example of a classic in children's literature. It can be read again and again and has life lessons for the young and the old.

Taken from her 1922 memoirs, Pages Of My Life, dancer Anna Pavlova tells of her first experience at the ballet as a little girl. Her simple and gentle words are full of imagery and passion as she relates the wonder of watching the Sleeping Beauty ballet...the sounds of Tchaikovsky's music, the mesmerizing beauty of the dancers, and the roar of the audience. On that thrilling afternoon her love affair with dance began, and a dream commenced that set the course of her life. Ms Pavlova's lovely text is enhanced by the magic and wonder of Edgar Degas' paintings. His artwork transports the reader back to this long ago performance, and together words and art bring that day to life. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, I Dreamed I Was A Ballerina includes short biographies of both Pavlova and Degas, to complete the story, and is a masterpiece to be treasured by aspiring ballerinas and artists, everywhere.