This was a cute book about an actual event that happened in the history of Ringling's circus. This book tells the story of how the cooperation of three men create the beautiful and well-known elephant ballet that became a hit in the circus.

Exquisite illustrations help tell the true story of a ballet where some of the dancers are real elephants!

Elephants and ballet? Hmmm...although this is based on fact, I am confused as to the reason anyone would want to see elephants misused and humiliated in this way. In the author's note in the back, Schubert says many of these magnificient animals were mistreated...all in the name of entertainment? I guess it rings true, we have to learn history in order to not repeat its evil.

On the plus side, the illustrations are dreamy with their watercolor majesty. And, the historical references to composer Igor Stravinsky, choreographer George Balanchine, and the Ringling family legacy is interesting.

Unfortunately, I will not be using this picture book for storytime.

This book tells the true story of a spectacle that was staged in New York's Madison Square Garden in 1942--when the Ringling Bros. circus and Balanchine's ballet troupe combined forces, resulting in a scene of ballet dancers performing with 50 elephants who were outfitted in enormous tutus.

The history and background of the performance was told factually, but the serious and well-known ethical issues involved with making huge, intelligent, and sensitive exotic animals perform for entertainment was not addressed at all in the text. What had to be done to ship 50 elephants by train across the country, and then have them perform tricks, is grim to contemplate—and period photos of the “ballet elephants” show their trainers wielding enormous bullhooks. (The text only makes references to “taps” being used to goad the performing animals.)

At the book’s conclusion, the author discusses her own love of elephants and admits that animal mistreatment may have been involved in the circus, but she chose not to include this aspect of the story in the book. The author then goes on to claim that most modern circuses treat their animals “very well.” If she would have done even a small amount of the research she did into the elephant ballet show, she would have easily discovered evidence that this claim is demonstrably false. Nearly every animal-using circus has a lengthy paper trail of violations of the Animal Welfare Act. In fact, when this book was published, Ringling Bros. was still dealing with the bad press generated by the leg wounds discovered on two baby elephants that occurred when trainers forcibly separated them from their mothers.

Ballet of the Elephants is a partial look at an historical event. While it could be a jumping-off point for learning further about the history and controversies around using elephants in circuses, I wouldn’t recommend it for the usual very young picture book audience. Difficult topics and unfortunate aspects of history can be addressed with appropriateness in children’s books; there are many examples of this being done successfully. If this book is read to a preschool audience, I would suggest pairing it with another that tells the animals’ perspective, such as When Anju Loved Being an Elephant. This is especially needed because animal circuses are not yet a thing of the past; there are still multiple active touring shows that use elephants and other exotic wildlife.

Beautiful non-fiction children's picture book detailing the ballet written and choreographed for elephants. Beautiful artwork.

A fascinating, odd incident from cultural history, the melding of John Ringling, George Balanchine and Igor Stravinsky. A good example of how nonfiction opens up the larger world to young readers (especially with a good resource list at the end).

A colorful historical picture book. I read it to my little sister and she loved it.

Fascinating story, way too much detail for my preschool story time.

A fascinating story about an unusual incident in history. My daughter and I both enjoyed this tale (though some of the references required some explanation for her).

This is a fascinating story about a collaboration between John Ringling North, George Balanchine, and Igor Stravinsky. The Ballet was preformed in 1942, with 50 elephants, it was called Circus Polka.
I would love to see it.