This sturdy board book is part of the Sesame Street Elmo’s World series. I like the fact that cuddly red Elmo is our guide in this intro to ballet, partly because he’s a he and partly because the idea of a monster learning ballet is a funny one! Girl monster Zoe joins him, and they go to a ballet lesson. The story is told through a series of speech bubbles and text. Readertotz can learn the five basic positions as well as some fancy ballet moves:
The twirl is called a “pirouette” (peer-uh-WET).
Some important basics are covered, such as the importance of warm-ups and have good posture.
What could be better than a friendly, accessible introduction to ballet--with Muppets!
I know that my blog partner, Lorie Ann Grover, is going to enjoy this one. She's a former ballet dancer and a big Sesame Street fan! Although Muppet creator and all around good guy, Jim Henson, didn't do ballet to my knowledge, he did help build a crazy maze for some rat pets in his first New York office. This and other interesting facts are in my chapter book biography, Who Was Jim Henson?
Random House, 2009
