Firebird

Ballerina Misty Copeland, a soloist at the American Ballet Theatre, presents this poetic picture-book to young dancers just like her, hoping to encourage them to dream big. Opening with a moment of despair, from one such hypothetical dancer, who maintains that she "could never hope to leap the space between" herself and Misty, the narrative counters this with words of fellow-feeling and encouragement, as the object of the young dancer's admiration (Misty herself) assures her that she too was once an aspiring youngster with insecurities of her own. Eventually though, through hard work and maintaining one's dreams, that space between the two - the professional ballerina and the hopeful young dancer - will close...

Firebird is a lovely show more book, pairing Misty Copeland's poetic and heartfelt message of encouragement for young dancers, especially young African-American ballet dancers, with gorgeous collage-style artwork from Christopher Myers. I always wonder, with authors famous in other areas of endeavor who decide to try their hand at writing children's books, whether the work they produce will be worth reading. I need not have worried here, as the narrative is just lovely: expressive, poetic, and ultimately both poignant and uplifting. The artwork was beautiful, with a sense of vibrancy and movement that complemented the narrative perfectly. Myers definitely deserved the accolades he won for this one, including the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. Recommended to Misty Copeland fans, and to all young would-be ballerinas, especially African-American ones. show less

Sparse, tender poetry communicates powerful ideas about representation in a really accessible way. The symmetrical beginning and ending made me cry. Such an important poem for artists of all ages, especially those who don't see themselves represented in their art.

As someone in a widely represented demographic, I found Copeland's message to be universal - we look at the heroes in our art form and think that we could never be as good as they are, but they started out right where we were. Copeland says that, but in completely gorgeous prose, and accompanied by stunning artwork of Black ballerinas. The impact is a really moving book that has a strong message about representation that everyone can hear and appreciate.

A really lovely book.

There are two reasons why I loved the book Firebird. One reason why I loved this book is because of the descriptive language used to tell the story. The author uses similes to connect the dancer in the story to nature. “Your feet are as swift as sunlight.” The descriptive language captivates the reader and makes the story come alive. The whole story compares the dancer to nature. “We’ll make the night sky our starry curtain the moon our silver spotlights as we spin across the planets.” The descriptive language helps children connect something they may do as a hobby like dancing to topics they are learning in school like nature.
Another reason I loved this story is because it broadens the perspectives of readers. There book show more was written by Misty Copeland, who is a popular African America ballerina. In the book, she talks about her experiences as a young dancer. “I was a dancer just like you with dreaming shooting star of a girl.” This book broadens the readers perspective of what it means to be a dancer. Misty talks about the hard work and effort she had to put in in order to order to reach the level of professionalism she has attained thus far. This is a theme that teachers can use this book to elucidate to students. Misty is apart of the American Ballet because she practiced and worked hard. Teachers can talk about goals children can have in order to reach their dreams.
The big idea of this story is that practice will help build your confidence. In the beginning of the story, the young dancer was not very confident in her ability to dance. Misty Copland’s role in the story was to encourage the dancer to keep trying. The author compares learning to dance like learning to fly. Once the young girl spent many hours practicing, she felt continent in herself to perform on stage. show less

I absolutely loved reading this picture book! From the beginning the story has you hooked. The illustrations grab you instantly. They’re filled with vibrant colors and are put together to look like they’re a bunch of cut outs pasted on the page. This type of illustration makes the readers eyes wander and take in the whole story. The descriptive language engages the reader write away. “I’m gray as rain, heavy as naptime, low as a storm pressing on rooftops.” The reader can instantly relate to the language used through out and picture what’s going on in their heads, even without the illustrations. The big picture behind this book is for the reader to feel empowered and inspired. Although an African American dancer wrote it, show more many dancers can relate to the dreams the character has. “The space between you and me is longer than forever and I will show them that forever is not so far away.” The gives the reader hope that their dreams to become a dancer can come true with just a little hard work and perseverance. show less

Misty Copeland shares the story of her rise to fame in the ballet world with a young girl, also named Misty, following in her foot steps. The book is illustrated using stunning paintings with broad strokes. Misty writes her story in verse. The author notes at the end of the book are particularly poignant, and teachers will want to share these with their students as Misty reminds us all that we have the power to make our dreams come true, no matter "what you look like or struggle with." This book would work well for all elementary ages, and could become a wonderful launch for researching history-making women and people of color.

Firebird is a beautigul book about a young black ballerina wishing to be as graceful as another ballerina. The older ballerina encourages the young one and says she too start out young, unknown, and afraid. She had to work hard to be where she is today and one day, the young ballerina will be there too. This book is beautifully written in verse and has gorgeous illustrations. The author has a note at the end about how she discovered ballet and found her voice through dance. The author says she wrote this book so ballerinas could have more than one representation. This is a wonderful book and would be great for primary readers.

Misty Copeland's book "Firebird" represents the story of her being a young girl who did not have confidence in being a dancer, but now she inspires girls who were just like her to pursue what they want. The book won the Coretta Scott King award in 2016. Christopher Myers, the illustrator, uses bold colors and lines on every page of the book. All of the illustrations seem to be made up of small pieces of paper that he painted on and pieced together to make the background, and the characters on each page. The lines of the paper, and the brush strokes are prevalent on each page, and it shows a rawness to the art Christopher Myers has done. On certain pages, Christopher Myers does an amazing job of making Mist Copeland stand out on the show more page. When she is performing as the firebird, she is bold and beautiful and the only thing that is noticed on the page. The illustrations in a way represent the level of confidence the little girl in the story has in herself. When she is full of confidence you can see it in the illustrations in her face and whole body. show less