Someone gave me a couple of readers from All About Learning, and I had never seen that series before. I also had never heard of the author, Renee M. LaTulippe, so I went to her website and discovered this book. Miraculously, our public library had it.

This illustration made me laugh out loud. I know enough about crabs to know that move is ridiculous! And quite cute. I knew at that moment I would be reading this book to my 6-and 7-year-olds in literature class that week.

The story begins with the announcer of the ballet inviting the reader to get settled before the show starts. It’s immediately evident that the “dancers are beyond compare.”

At first, I tripped a little over the rhymes. Then I realized each stanza is an AABA pattern, which is impressive for two reasons. First, each B line, all the way through, rhymes with “show.” Also, in each stanza, the author rhymes with at least one French ballet term, and she makes it seem effortless. Once I figured out the patterns, the story was more fun than ever.

Though French pronunciation doesn’t come easily to me, the rhyme scheme gave me a clue to the word “soubresaut,” one that was completely unfamiliar. It has to rhyme with show, glow, and toe.

Not to worry! You don’t have to figure out how to pronounce the French words or what they mean. There is an extremely enlightening glossary at the end. My students had a good time with this book. One of the little girls was able to demonstrate “first position” for us (not mentioned in the story, but it was all she knew of ballet), and we all practiced our flexibility.

The poetry by LaTulippe and illustrations by Cecile Metzger make a perfect dance team.

This book is available at Amazon.