On Your Toes: A Ballet ABC

A~Arabesque

B~Backstage

C~Costume

On Your Toes: A Ballet ABC by Rachel Isadora is a delightful ABC book for any aspiring little dancer. Through it's pages it shows a ballet company performing, warming up and behind the scenes. It's glowing watercolors bring a dreaming and beautiful quality to the pages. Besides teaching the ABC's, you also learn some of the basic terminology of ballet, see the different ballets in action and practice your French. The author/illustrator, who is herself a previous ballet dancer, brings to life ballets ranging from the classics, such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, to the newer ballet, Firebird. The author's passion and knowledge of this enchanting dance is evident in her loving portrayals. This is one of my daughter's absolute favorite books. This book if full of delightful illustrations and has a handy glossary in the back of the book to help with some of those difficult French words and an explanation to the pictures and characters in the illustrations. The book can also be used to help little ones use up some of their energy by practicing some of the moves described in the book. I definitely recommend this book for any little girl, even if she isn't a dancer. The illustrations alone are worth the time.

En Pointe Everyone!

Title: On Your Toes: A Ballet ABC

Author: Rachel Isadora

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

ISBN 0-06-050238