About this item

Angelina Ballerina is the world's best-loved ballet dancing mouse! She is published in Puffin, Ladybird, and Funfax, and her animated adventures appear on TV channels around the world. Even very little girls love to dress up and dance, and they dream of learning ballet. In this very-first ballet book, Angelina appeals to these dreams. She tells the young reader all about ballet class, including what a ballet student wears, how to tie your hair like a ballerina, simple steps and dances to try, and the end-of-term show, where everyone becomes star for a night! Irresistibly pretty, inspiring and fun, just like the "Angelina Ballerina" storybooks and award-winning animations. It includes DK how-to photos of young ballet students (aged up to 6 years) , from the Central School of Ballet, plus Angelina story book art. The bright, clear design makes the book simple and fun to use.



About the Author

Katharine Holabird

Katharine Holabird is an American writer, best known as the author of the Angelina Ballerina series. As a child, Holabird was an avid reader who loved fairy tales and stories about heroic animals, and she frequently saw ballets like Cinderella and Swan Lake with her grandmother. The young, imaginative Holabird loved animals, playing in her tree house, and dancing with her sisters. In 1969, she received a B.A. in literature from Bennington College in Vermont and then worked at Bennington College as a literary editor for a year after her graduation. Holabird then found herself in Italy as a freelance journalist where she met her husband, Michael Haggiag. The two married in 1974 and moved to London where she continued to write and worked at a nursery school. In 1983, her first children's book, Angelina Ballerina, was published. Holabird's son, Adam, was her inspiration for the character Henry, and Angelina's character was inspired by her daughters' love for dressing up and dancing. Holabird wrote the first draft of Angelina Ballerina at the kitchen table with her daughters dancing around her. In fact, the Angelina books were originally about a girl, but then Craig drew a mouse, and Holabird loved it. "The impulsive character of Angelina came alive," says Holabird, "and seemed to pirouette off the page with enthusiasm and energy, while her plump and ebullient body expressed drama and attitude in every twitch of her tail. " Angelina is a very emotional character; she is sensitive and often bursts into tears right before offering an apology. She struggles with her conscience but always ends up doing the right thing - which is very familiar to many young children. The universal childhood themes in Angelina include friendship, jealousy, loyalty, & dedication. Holabird's goal was to realistically portray the difficulties of growing up. According to Holabird, it is a ballerina book for "all the passionate little dancers and performers in the world," including her own two daughters, which is why she "decided to explore the impulsive, highly emotional character of a small but determined ballerina. "The first American edition of Angelina Ballerina was published in 1984. A year later, Holabird received the Kentucky Bluegrass Award for Angelina Ballerina. In 1986 and 1987, she received the ALA Notable Book Awards. Angelina's Christmas was selected as Child Study Association's Children's Book of the Year in 1987. The following year, Holabird and Craig published Alexander and the Dragon, their first Alexander book; it is aimed at preschool children who want to be consoled about bedtime monsters. In 1990, Holabird wrote the Alexander sequel, Alexander and the Magic Boat, which portrays a strong mother/son relationship while the two go on a voyage to imaginary worlds. Also in 1990, Holabird received the British Book Design and Production award.In 1999, HIT Entertainment in London (



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