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Spectacular. This would pair well with Ballet for Martha, the Raschka biography of Thelonious Monk, or The One and Only Ivan.
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Ballet of the Elephants
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Sparking watercolors-and-ink illustrations dance across the page and spill out onto a horizontal foldout of elephants and ballerinas spotlighted together--in the true story of "Circus Polka," choreographed in 1942 by George Balanchine, with music by Igor Stravinsky and performances by John Ringling North's elephants. Robert Andrew Parker brings his love of theater, dance, and costume to this captivating story. Leda Schubert's background note includes black-and-white photos of the actual performance.
34 pages, Hardcover
First published April 4,2006
This edition
- Format
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34 pages, Hardcover
- Published
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April 4, 2006 by Roaring Brook Press
- ISBN
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9781596430754
- ASIN
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1596430753
- Language
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English
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Community Reviews
Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 22 votes)
5 stars
6(27%)
4 stars
7(32%)
3 stars
9(41%)
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22 reviews All reviews
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Format: 32 pages plus one foldout. 1025 words plus 900 words in author's notes. POV: third person, past.
In 1942, 50 elephants dressed in thousands of yards of tulle and silk danced steps choreographed by George Balanchine to music by Igor Stravinsky in the John Ringling North circus. The performance, and the 425 performances that followed delighted over 4 million viewers. Schubert's book begins with the pomp surrounding the appearance of the circus in a town, then flashes back to when each of the principle humans were young and how they came together to follow and create a dream into reality. The language is appropriate for the age group, but the flashback sequence in the middle tends to bog the overall story down, creating a split in the narrative that doesn't easily come together in the end. The endnotes are full of history and links to further reading.
In 1942, 50 elephants dressed in thousands of yards of tulle and silk danced steps choreographed by George Balanchine to music by Igor Stravinsky in the John Ringling North circus. The performance, and the 425 performances that followed delighted over 4 million viewers. Schubert's book begins with the pomp surrounding the appearance of the circus in a town, then flashes back to when each of the principle humans were young and how they came together to follow and create a dream into reality. The language is appropriate for the age group, but the flashback sequence in the middle tends to bog the overall story down, creating a split in the narrative that doesn't easily come together in the end. The endnotes are full of history and links to further reading.
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This book gives the back story to a ballet, the Circus Polka performed by elephants in 1942. This came about through the collaboration of John Ringling, George Balanchine, and Igor Stravinsky. The illustrations are all drawings, but there is a picture from the the ballet and the elephants included in the book.
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3.5 stars. This was about one of the Ringling's bringing 50 some elephants together in a circus and training them to perform together. He solicited help from Igor Stravinsky (a composer) and a famous choreographer (also from Russia) to create the show. Interesting to learn about the people of the circus and to see how much the elephants loved the people. This one was a little over Natalie's head, even though she claims she loved it. ;)
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The story of how "Circus polka" a dance of 50 elephants and 50 ballerinas, choreographed by George Balanchine, was created.
www.hcpl.net
www.hcpl.net
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Without background knowledge about Depression era circuses, I do not think children would connect much with this book. I think kids would like to know more about the elephants in the ballet and less about the humans.
I am convinced that the only way this book won the Texas Bluebonnet Award is because it was so short, it was read to every child in the state whose school participates in the contest.
I am now suspicious of books where the author's note explaining "the process" is longer than the text of the book itself.
I am convinced that the only way this book won the Texas Bluebonnet Award is because it was so short, it was read to every child in the state whose school participates in the contest.
I am now suspicious of books where the author's note explaining "the process" is longer than the text of the book itself.
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I absolutely love one-of-a-kind childrens' books about something that very few adults are aware occurred. This book fits that bill to a T! I would recommend this to nonfiction lovers and budding ballerinas. Beauty and grace can be found in the most unusual places, art takes many shapes, and crazy artists get ideas in their head and won't give them up no matter how unusual or impossible they may seem to outsiders!
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Step up nonfiction
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