Ballet for beginners - and their wistful moms

As a budding young ballerina, I was simply in love with A Very Young Dancer by Jill Krementz. I used to just lose myself in those marvelous photos until the pages were as dog-eared as the copies in the used bookstores that now carry it.

 

So when I saw the new Ballet for Beginners by Mary Kate Mellow and Stephanie Troeller, it brought me right back to that same place--dreaming that one day I'd be the girl being whisked off to the Kingdom of Sweets on a magic sleigh with a prince and a mouthful of marzipan

Ballet For Beginners is an excellent step-by-step instruction book, glossary, and daydream-inciter from the two moms behind the beloved Prima Princessa DVDs. It features vivid, detailed descriptions on everything from creative movement for toddlers to basic barre work to advanced choreography (oh, those pas de deux), all brought to life with excellent photos of the gorgeous students of New York's School of American Ballet.

The tone is refreshingly non-condescending which means I don't mind reading it out loud to my girls. And while they love the trademark cartoon fairy who guides you through the pages, her presence on the cover might even be a bit misleading; there's no reason a tween or young teen ballet lover wouldn't just adore this book too. Especially considering the majority of the chapters focus on advanced ballet classes and performance.

If nothing else, it's a great help for me to convince my daughter each week that see, you HAVE to wear your hair up at ballet class. Which also brings me back. Payback, I suppose. -Liz

Find Ballet for Beginners by Mary Kate Mellow and Stephanie Troeller from our affiliate Amazon, and find used copies of A Very Young Dancer for a whole lot of money there too.

Find More: Books for Kids, Tweens + Big Kids