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Bunheads
by Misty Copeland, illustrated by Setor Fiadzigbey
c.2020, Putnam
$17.99 / $23.75 Canada
32 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
These days, helping others
is on point.
It's the best thing to do
– not just for them, but for you. Everybody's happy when you
work together because it makes the task a little easier, and
learning is better when you teach one another as you go.
Helping others is right on point and, in the new book
Bunheads by Misty Copeland, illustrated by Setor
Fiadzigbey, it's more fun, too. |
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Everyone was really
excited when Miss Bradley made her announcement at the
beginning of dance class. She said they were going to
perform the ballet Coppélia, a tale of a toymaker, a
beautiful doll, a boy named Franz, and his jealous
girlfriend, Swanilda. It was a dramatic tale and little
Misty couldn't wait to dance that ballet.
This, in fact, would be
her first big dance and she very much wanted to be Swanilda.
But before she could do that, she had to try out for the
role, just like all the other girls in ballet class. There
were a lot of different dances to know and she'd have to do
them all perfectly, from the easy développé to tendu front,
to the very hard-to-do pas de bourrée. Misty'd never danced
like that before, but as Miss Bradley called Misty
and a girl named Cat up to the front of the room, she said
Misty was "very good."
Miss Bradley asked Cat to
show Misty the first part of the Coppélia. Misty was
so excited! Even the name, pronounced "Co-pay-lee-ah,"
sounded "magical and full of mystery!"
But the next day, Mmisty
began to have her doubts. Cat was really good. What if she
wanted the part of Swanilda, too? How could Misty ever
compete with anyone so talented?
As the other dancers filed
into class, Cat and Misty stuck together. Cat began to teach
Misty more moves, and it was so much fun but everyone in
ballet class, it seemed, wanted to dance the Coppélia.
Misty could predict that Cat would definitely be in the
ballet because nobody was a better dancer. But would Misty
land a part, too?
At the risk of being a
spoiler, there's a happy ending to Bunheads, but you
probably already knew that, whether you're a patron of the
ballet or not.
Which brings us to the
meat of this book: even the title, referring to hairstyle,
is for little ballet dancers. Pure and simple, it's for kids
who twirl and tippy-toe and jeté through the house, kids who
first-position without even thinking about it, kids who'd
wear a tutu in the tub, if they could. Author Misty Copeland
speaks directly to their hearts with authenticity, and she
addresses any ballet-diva behavior your little one might
have by showing that competition is good but learning from
the competition is better.
Non-dancers may appreciate
this adorable book, but it'll be so much more meaningful for
little ballet stars or ballet fans, boys or girls, ages
three to seven. If that barre is already set for your child,
Bunheads is en pointe.
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