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Dancing In The Wings By Debbie Allen Pictures by Kadir Nelson

This magnificent book traces the struggle of a girl who dreams of being a ballerina. She is very tall and she endures many people teasing her and trying to dissuade her from following her dream. However she ignores the negative comments and ends up being a wonderful ballerina. The book is loosely based on the life experiences of author Debbie Allen.

With the Holiday season approaching, the girls in the class can’t stop talking about the Nutcracker. Dramatic play in the classroom turns easily to creating a ballet studio. Our very young students acted out parts of the story and drew ideas from this book that retraces the struggle of a real dancer – modeling perseverance to encourage them to follow their dreams.

The illustrations are lively and engaging with the young dancer looking right out of the pages.
The main character is represented as a tall determined girl. A positive model for our future ballerinas and dancers. Boys are joining the ballet as well.
Our main character is not afraid to be different,
and she uses that difference to stand out in a positive manner.
Seeing this picture a few children exclaimed “she is reaching the stars!”
We all loved this picture – the face of someone who has achieved her dreams.

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