This series was my absolute favorite when I was growing up (and truthfully, still is). I re-read it every few years and enjoy it each time. It's like a cozy sweater... comforting, reliable, enjoyable. These books are what sparked my interest in travel (ok, European travel), and I fully plan on naming my daughter (if I ever have one) either Andrina, Audrina or anything with the nickname "Drina" and hope she will be a ballerina, who is as kind aND intelligent as the heroine of these books. I even made my friends read these books, haha. 5th grade me, pushing these books onto my friends...

Good book for young readers who enjoy reading about dance and ballerinas.

Drina is cute, and she wants very much to be a ballerina, no matter what it takes. She works hard, even when her grandparents forbid her from dancing.

In the book, Drina and her best friend, Jenny, discuss the fact that most books about ballerinas make it seem like ballet talent comes easy, but that that's a wrong portrayal. I think this book tries to get at the other side, showing Drina working hard in her classes, suffering setbacks, and continuing her practices at home when her grandmother takes her out of her lessons.

This would probably be a book I reread if I'd read it when I was younger. Actually, there's a good chance that I'll still reread it :)

This is a good opener to a brilliant series about Drina Adams and her dancing. It starts from when she is 5 and her grandmother catches her dancing in the living room. It then fast forwards to Drina's first day at her new school in Warwickshire where she meets Jenny Pilgrim. Jenny and Drina are very different but make good friends and Jenny proves to be a useful ally when Drina wants to dance as she is forced to dance by her mum at The Selswick School. Drina has to hide this from her grandmother for a bit as she has worked out that her grandmother doesn't want her to dance even though she has no idea why.

Eventually Drina and her grandparents move away to London for her grandfather's job and she has to deal with living away from Jenny and her dance school. She secretly keeps practising then meets a former dancer Adele Whiteway who becomes a useful ally.

A brilliant start to the series and perfect for anyone who loves ballet.

This is teenage to young adult fiction as it is most heartwarming. For all aspiring ballerina's as well as those who are not. This story follows the life of Drina as she finds ballet after her parents die in an accident. It is a beautiful story and relays the insecurities of adolescence as well as the beauty and freedom. It really is a treasure and a shame that it is not reissued to the pleasure of future generations. If you manage to get a copy of the series then it is a worth while and timeless read. In today's world of fantasy and science fiction this series is a reminder that there is an excitement in real world professions and that love and hard work are the essence of success. Truly inspirational.

I loved Drina's world as a little girl. She showed me around London before I had ever been there for myself! Definitely one to give to the nieces, should they decide to become ballerinas. The entire series is worth paying a visit.

I loved this book as a teen. I bought the first three books at Kmart one summer while at our cottage. I fell in love with the story. It is a sweet, charming book and I enjoyed re reading it.

I loved this series as a child and remember being so excited whenever I found another Drina book on our mobile library, until I got my own set. Re-reading the first in the series was a treat.

I read this book over and over again as a child and fell in love with reading and ballet because of it.

In the first installment in the series, Ballet for Drina, the reader is introduced to Drina, a little girl who lives with her grandparents, Mr and Mrs Chester, following the death of her mother and father when she was very young. She loves to dance but has never been allowed to take lessons and her grandmother refuses to discuss why. When Drina changes schools she makes friends with Jenny Pilgrim, who hates dancing and wants to work on a farm but whose mother insists she take ballet classes. Eventually Mrs Chester bows to pressure and allows Drina to join in, until Mr Chester’s job takes the family away from Warwickshire and the ballet school that Drina loves to live in London.

This book was exactly how I remember it from when I was little: simple and uncomplicated but sweet and charming. Reading as an adult there is never any real tension or suspense as it is abundantly clear how things are going to pan out from the very beginning, but I remember feeling every one of Drina’s emotions as she suffers the agonies of not knowing whether she will be able to continue with her beloved dancing classes. It evokes the strong feelings of childhood, in which everything is either the best thing ever or the end of the world, very well, but does not do so in a reflective way which might broaden its appeal to adults as well. Ballet for Drina is unashamedly a children’s book.

I’m not sure how much of my enjoyment of this book is due to happy memories of having read it as a child, but it remains an absorbing way to pass an hour. Sometimes it is nice to read a gentle, relaxing book in which there are no real surprises and everything works out for the best.

Drina does not have as much personality as most of MAE's characters but this series is a must for fans of ballet books.

The whole Drina series is amazing. My mom read all of them to me when I was little, and I still read them to this day. Be forewarned though, they are all out of print, so they will be quite expensive to find, more than likely. The Drina series is the story of a young girl wanting nothing more than to be a ballerina, and how she goes about getting there. It keeps your interest and appeals to many boys as much as girls. I will definitely be reading these books to my children.

This was my favorite book as a young girl.