Dancing in the Wings (edition 2003)

Being tall gets in the way of being a ballet dancer. Yet "Sassy" doesn't give up on her dream to be an dancer and keeps working hard. It pays off when her partner is also tall.

This book is a great way to teach confidence. Throughout the book the young girl doubts herself, when all she really wants to do is dance, because she has large feet. Everyone around her believes she can do it, and she just has to realize that she can too.

Dancer and actress Debbie Allen, and artist Kadir Nelson - the author/illustrator team who produced Brothers of the Knight, an African-American reinterpretation of the old German fairy-tale of The Twelve Dancing Princesses - turn their attention here to the world of ballet, and the result is a picture-book with considerable charm. The story of Sassy, a talented and enthusiastic young dancer who often feels like the odd one out, because she is taller than the other dancers in her studio, Dancing In the Wings follows its heroine through some discouraging experiences - teasing at the hands of her fellow dancers, as well as her brother; worries about body image, and being different - to a very happy conclusion.

I enjoyed Allen's narrative, which offers a very positive message about accepting who we are, and taking strength from those things which set us apart, while also working well as a story. I thought the name-calling back and forth, between Sassy and her brother, and Sassy and her studio-mates - something I have seen criticized in other reviews - was fairly realistic, and nothing so extreme that it need impede any but the most sensitive of readers in their enjoyment of the book. Kadir Nelson's artwork is, as always, simply gorgeous: he makes such wonderful use of light, and his figures are always so expressive! All that said - and I did enjoy this! - I'm not sure that Dancing In the Wings was quite the stand-out to me, that it seems to have been for other readers.

Still, it's a solidly engaging book, one I would recommend to young ballerinas - particularly those who are self conscious about some aspect of their bodies - to anyone looking for depictions of African-American children in the ballet (something I've not seen that frequently), and to fans of Kadir Nelson. ( )

A great story about a young girl who wants to dance, but feels like she'll never have the chance to shine because of her height and feet. In the story,she learns to look past the teasing and gains her confidence. The pictures are great, and the book is a good tool to discuss teasing/bullying to kids. ( )

Sassy is a young, tall ballerina who is picked on by everyone for her height. One day she audtions for a prestigous role and is picked above everyone else. This would be an excellent book to use to build character and motivation in young girls. ( )