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Emma and Julia Love Ballet

A day in the lives of two ballerinas, one a little red-headed beginner and the other a young accomplished African American woman. Their activities mirror each other, beginning with waking up and eating breakfast before ballet lessons. While Emma’s mom drives her to ballet, Julia takes the bus by herself. But, upon entering their dance studios, they both put away their coats and bags and begin lessons with their beloved teachers, who make them both work hard at their respective levels. As the day progresses, the reader is reminded of how much these two characters love ballet and they finally meet that evening when Emma attends the ballet in the city with her family and Julia is the principal dancer. After the performance, Emma shyly asks for Julia’s autograph backstage and receives an encouraging hug as well. Emma states that one day she will dance onstage like Julia and Julia replies that once she dreamed of being a ballerina just like Emma. And, the end feels just right. The artwork is lovely and the details on the pages draws the reader into the lives of the ballerinas. Young ballerinas will enjoy the parallel story of two dancers who love ballet. Recommended.

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About Candy Ranney

Candy is an elementary school librarian in Shelton, WA at the school where she was a student (so many years ago!). Her library is unique in that she brings her background and love of biology to her students in many ways. Not only does she have an awesome selection of science books; she also has a beaver, bobcat and mink sitting on her shelves and a variety of jarred specimens for her students to study. When she's not in the library, she is taking care of her baby trees on her tree farm and hanging out with her family and many pets.