BALLERINA!

Sís continues his series of preschool-level stories (Dinosaur!, not reviewed, etc.) exploring the boundaries of fantasy and reality within areas of particular fascination to preschoolers. This short exploration of a little girl’s active imagination is printed on heavy-coated paper providing a transitional format between board books and regular picture books. The succinct text manages to identify colors, dance costume components, the most famous ballets, and descriptive words for common ballet movements. The patterned story begins with a simple line-art illustration of the little girl, Terry, in her colorless bedroom in front of a large mirror. In each two-page spread, the left-hand page gives a short descriptive sentence about Terry trying on one colored item of a dance costume with the right-hand page showing a corresponding imaginary view of an adult Terry dancing in the complete costume within the mirror frame. A descriptive action word printed in the featured color serves as the caption for each imaginary dancer. Terry’s pink tutu leads to the Sugarplum Fairy, a white feather boa leads to the graceful swan from Swan Lake, and a set of many-colored scarves leads to a gatefold conclusion that reprises all seven of the previous ballerinas curtseying, with Terry’s parents applauding as the audience on the last page. There aren’t many books on ballet for younger preschoolers, so Terry’s imaginative fantasy dances will find a place in the spotlight with the littlest budding ballerinas. (Picture book. 2-5)