Dancing in the Wings

Rating:
Summary: What a wonderful book!
Review: A beautifully written and illustrated book about a young girl's struggles to overcome her differences to achieve her dream of being a ballet dancer.

Rating:
Summary: Something to be proud of!
Review: As a woman who is used to being the tallest female in the room, this book was a delight for me. It's clear to her father and I that our 3 year old daughter will be following in the footsteps(size 10 1/2) of her mother. We read this book now and then because it's never too soon to promote a positive self-image. I want my daughter to embrace her size and be proud of who she is.

Rating:
Summary: dancing in the wings
Review: HI MY NAME IS RICHARD TIMBERLAKE I'AM 11 YEARS OLD I LIVE IN VIRGINIA I CHOOSE THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT HAS NICE PICTURES THE BOOK IS CALLED DANCING IN THE WINGS.THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK IS DEBBIE ALLEN. THIS BOOK IS REALISTIC FICTION.BEBBIE ALLEN IS REATELING THE STORY OF THE DANCING PRINCESSES.THIS STORY TAKES PLACE IN DANCE CLASS. THIS BOOK IS ABOUT A GIRL WHO IS IN DANCE CLASS AND SHE HAS BIG FEET AND SHE IS TALLER THAN THE BOYS AND GIRLS. PEOPLE IN HER CLASS PICK ON HER BECAUSE SHE IS TALL. SHE WANTS TO BE TREATED LIKE EVERY BODY ELSE. I LIKE THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT HOOKED ME THE FIRST TIME I READ IT. IT MOTIVATES YOU TO COMPLISH YOUR DREAM.I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO KIDS THAT ARE 5 AND UP.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful!
Review: I can totally relate to this book. I am the tallest in my ballet class and have the biggest feet anyone could imagine, and reading this book made me feel good that I'm so tall and have such big feet. I love the illustrations, and the writing. This is one of the best picture books I've ever read!

Rating:
Summary: Being Different is Good
Review: I really liked this book. It has a lesson everyone can value. The point of the book is that being different from the majority is good. Often times the people who get recongnized are very unique.
In this story the main character is very tall, and has big feet. She looks at thoses qualities as being something to be ashamed of. She is the tallest one in her dance class, and gets made fun of quite often.
When all the dancers compete for a chance to perform in Washington, D.C, Sassy(the main charcter) gets chosen. She was chosen because she was different than all the other dancers. As you can tell the moral of the book is that being different can be a positive thing.

Rating:
Summary: My class never laughed so hard!
Review: I'm a fifth grade elementary school teacher and work in a black neighborhood. Recently our theme for the week was the biography of the famous ballet star, Evelyn Cisneros.Unfortunately, our school library did not have any information on Cisneros at the time. Instead, our media specialist read this wonderful book by Debbie Allen of "FAME" fame. Well, let me tell you, my students never laughed so hard during a book. They just simply loved it.

Put-downs are a fact of life, especially (and unfortunately) in elementary school. I think the students really got the message loud and clear and in a fun and interesting, not preachy, way. As a class, we discussed how people are different and we need to accept others without making fun of them. It was also clear that we sound horrible when we tease and taunt each other, too. There were really great points of discussion above and beyond ballet and dancing.

Debbie Allen is truly talented and not just as a dancer! My students learned about the world of ballet, which was new to them. They were engaged while being read to and afterwards enjoyed talking and laughing about this book. I found it to be a tremendous teaching tool in that it opened up many topics of discussion that week and students connected to this book in an exciting way. It spoke to them in their own language and that's a difficult thing to do! My students can be hard to reach through books and yet Debbie Allen accomplished it with ease.

The pictures were a delight, very expressive. I will buy this book now and use it in my classroom every year. I strongly recommend this book as a teaching tool, in all neighborhoods. I hope Allen writes more for children soon.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Story
Review: My 4-year old loves this because she is taking ballet. The illustrations from Kadir Nelson are masterful. My daughters now know his art work and relate it to the books they have.

Rating:
Summary: dancing in the wings
Review: This book is about a ballerina who is taller than the rest of the students who take ballet and so is made fun of by them. Nobody is tall enough to be her partner so she never can display her talent until one day a man comes in to hold auditions for a dance festival. No one thinks that she can make it. Will she have a chance to show off her true talent?

I enjoyed reading this book because it shows that even though other people may think that you can't succeed, it really depends on how YOU feel and how determined you are.