Product Description

Swan Lake, Coppelia, Gisele, Cinderella, La Sylphide, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, The Firebird, Petrouchka and The Sleeping Beauty . . . this beautiful collection brings together ten best-loved stories from the ballet. Geraldine McCaughrean's sparkling retellings capture all the magic and drama of these timeless stories, which are brought to life by Angela Barrett's exquisite illustrations. A classic collection to treasure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #274565 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-25
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

Review

Geraldine McCaughrean’s lucid but resonant language, uncompromising in its faithfulness to original narrative, is well matched by Angela Barrett’s beautifully composed but eerie pictures.

A classic collection to keep and treasure.

Customer Reviews

A Book of Pure Beauty
McCaughrean's poignant retelling of the (often tragic) famous ballet synopses is matched by the enchanting illustrations which will delight lovers of fairytales. This book would be a great gift for a ballet fan, but can also be read simply as stories. My son, who at 3 1/2 is really too young to care about dance or music (and too young to find the stories "girly"), was particularly entranced by the ghostly Giselle . Hours after reading the story,he said" I wish Giselle could come to live in my house!" With this book, she -and Petruschka and the Swan Princess and all the other well known characters -can.

Has captured my daughters imagination!
We haven't read all the stories together yet as my 3 year old daughter loves the firebird so much she just asks for that one over and over again. It has led to lots of re-enactment at home and she has watched the whole ballet on youtube as a result.
The only warning I would give is that some of the stories are unavoidably melancholy: sensitive children may ask questions about subjects that had never entered their minds before ie. suicide, which seems to happen in quite a few ballets! My daughter seemed a bit confused at the end of swan lake as she just isn't used to stories that don't have happy endings. That said it is so beautifully written and you can always pick and choose which ones you read depending on what you feel is appropiate for your child.

Beautiful Book
I gave this to my niece for her fifth birthday and she loves it. I know she will enjoy it for many years to come!