Who doesn't love Jane Yolen? These are the classic fairy tales retold in a ballet style- beautiful art and story, as always! Find this and other Barefoot Books on my website.

It has gorgeous beautiful pictures with ballet.
But the retelling is not so interesting.
For a child book, too tragic.

If you have a ballerina in your house, this is worth checking out! Even if you don't, this book is a terrific introduction to some of the classical ballets in story form. Introductory notes, nice illustrations, and wonderfully written stories will make this a fun read for ballet devotees. Reading level is upper elementary; stories are fairly long/few pictures, making this a better read aloud to K+ than preschool.

The Illistations are wonderful, and the writer does a great job of summing up the plot lines of some of the most loved ballets

Even thought this is a children's book, I couldn't resist the gorgeous artwork (that earns it at the very least two stars) by Rebecca Guay. The stories are a good, simple introduction to the tales of several popular ballets, but, honestly, I got it for the art alone. Recommended for any Guay fans, or young girls who love the ballet.

I love Jane Yolen, BUT....she put too much verbiage into each of the storylines of the ballets, though she does provide backstories before the 5 or so page print versions (with less pictures) of the ballets' plot (with dialogue...not common in ballet), including mentioning famous dancers, composers, tidbits. The 'limited' illustrations are beautifully done...mentions the most recognizable ballets in history: Coppelia, Swan Lake, Cinderella, Nutcracker, Shin Chung (one of the most iconic ballets internationally to meld Ballet with Asian dance, cool), Sleeping Beauty and Daphnis and Chloe...

Lovely book design and great writing from Yolen and Stemple of the classic stories. A few weird choices, such as Shim Chung, which was written for the daughter of Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and the introduction to that story includes Julia Moon's marriage to her fiancé...after he died. Kind of a strange choice for a children's storybook, but it's not like ballet plots are happy-clappy either! I love Rebecca Guay's art, which is sometimes realistic and sometimes more fantastical. I wish there were more illustrations, but I do love a good page border, and each ballet has a unique one. The detail is great, as when the authors mention a performance of Cinderella where the Prince lost his shoe, too!

Ballet stories included:
Coppélia
Swan Lake
Cinderella
The Nutcracker
Shim Chung
The Sleeping Beauty
Daphnis and Chloë

This book is absolutely beautiful. Both the stories and illustrations are charming and they complement each other well. This would be a great read-aloud book.

It would also pair well with Footnotes: Dancing the World's Best-Loved Ballets.

Ho sempre invidiato una mia amica perché aveva questo libro perché ha delle illustrazioni pazzesche

I knew going in that the combination of Jane Yolen and Rebecca Guay was going to be marvelous, but you can really see their love for, and experience with, ballet in every page. Each story is prefaced with a story about the ballet, and Guay's illustrations capture beautiful moments in each ballet.

Well worth it for anyone who has ever loved ballet.