Belinda Begins Ballet

You can't tell by the cover, but this book features a talented young Black ballerina named Camille who inspires Belinda to learn to dance. My four-year-old loves ballet books and it's been a bit of a challenge to find good ones with diverse ballet dancers. (I'm talking all kind of diversity - gender, race, body type, etc.) Most of the ballet picture books she picks out at the library are about animals or slim white girls.

There's a mean teacher in this one who for some reason really wants Belinda to be a clown in a talent show. I guess she thinks people with big feet must be clowns? Explaining this lady's clown obsession would be a whole other book. The upshot is that Belinda learns to follow her passion instead of following the show more directions of a bullying teacher. show less

Summary:
Belinda was born with everything tiny except her feet. By the time she was in elementary school she had huge feet. Having big feet was an advantage for some things like reaching up high or jumping high but a disadvantage for other things like jump rope or playing hopscotch. The talent show would be soon at Belinda's school. Her teacher Mrs. Rhino assigned her to be a clown because of her big feet. Belinda felt miserable to be the clown and later she found what most interested her, ballet. She observed a ballet dancer each day and practiced what she saw. At the talent show she was still dressed as the clown but she did ballet moves instead of clown moves. The next year she won the talent show as a ballet dancer.

Comments:
There is show more some humor in the story which will interest readers. I like how the story teaches the reader that Belinda worked hard towards what interested her. The illustrations are colorful and detailed. show less

Belinda is told to be a clown for the school talent show for her big feet. After the agonizing rehearsals, Belinda watches a beautiful dancer. She goes home every night and tries the dance herself.

realistic fiction-

Belinda is a little girl with big feet. She learned these feet could be useful. It was very hard to find cute shoes. And she had to be a clown in the talent show because she had big feet. She was told to fall during the routine on purpose. She was very embarrassed. She saw a girl doing ballet and wanted to dance like that so she went home and practiced. When she went on stage, instead of doing her whole clown routine and falling, she started doing ballet! Everyone was so impressed.

This book shows kids that just because they're built different doesn't mean that you can't do something if you really want to do it! I am very small so sports we never something I was naturally good at. But after all the work I put it, I show more almost always had a starting spot. Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard. show less