Presenting Tanya, the Ugly Duckling (Picture Books) [Hardcover]

Patricia Lee Gauch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 1999 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: Picture Books

When Tanya's ballet teacher, Miss Foley, chooses her to dance the lead in the spring recital of The Ugly Duckling, Tanya wonders, Why? Right from the start, rehearsing is hard. Tanya feels clumsy. "Poor Tanya," she hears someone whisper, "she really is an ugly duckling." She wonders if she will ever get the dance right. It is at the dress rehearsal that she truly becomes the duckling, and in becoming the duckling, rises magically to her role as the ballerina swan.

With Satomi Ichikawa's shimmering pastel watercolors, Patricia Lee Gauch's newest story of the littlest dancer is a multi-layered testament to the swan waiting to emerge within each of us.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3Another lovely story about the young ballet student that will appeal to children who feel left out or unable to accomplish as much as their peers. In Tanyas sixth picture-book appearance, she is selected to dance the title role in The Ugly Duckling ballet at her school recital. As the children rehearse, the other pupils improve, but Tanya, who feels as though she has two left feet and no wings at all, cant seem to get the movements right. Finally, at the dress rehearsal, the music, the costumes, and the drama transform her into the Ugly Duckling and Tanya is ready to perform. The expressive watercolor paintings, many of them wordless double-page spreads, capture all of the beauty of a ballet performance. As Miss Foley tells the story to the dancers, small paintings set above the text reflect the events she describes, showing a scrawny chick that blossoms into a graceful swan. Tanyas poses, motions, and emotions echo those of the duckling. In all of the paintings, Ichikawa makes effective use of line and shadow to create the illusion of movement and mood. Take a bow, Tanya!Susan Pine, New York Public Library
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Philomel (May 24, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399232001
• ISBN-13: 978-0399232008
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,665,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Tanya, the beautiful swan, emerges!, June 2, 2004

By 

Maureen (VT, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Presenting Tanya, the Ugly Duckling (Picture Books) (Hardcover)

This a beautiful rendition of ballet and the folk story about the Ugly Duckling. Tanya demonstrates that she has to be the character to be ready to dance for the performance. This book is a joy for little ballerinas and those who appreciate "the coming to life" of a story via ballet. Enjoy!

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tanya's Metamorphosis, April 30, 2000

By 

Lisa Ebeling "laa-laa" (smalltown, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Presenting Tanya, the Ugly Duckling (Picture Books) (Hardcover)

Satomi Ichikawa's illustrations are what I like best about "Presenting Tanya the Ugly Duckling." She uses strong but muted colors and realistic people, with very little extraneous detail in the pictures. The drawings really capture Tanya's metamorphosis from the shy, insecure girl who is puzzled to have been chosen to dance the lead role in "The Ugly Duckling" to the joyous, confident dancer she becomes during the dress rehearsal. In the beginning of the book, Tanya is drawn in awkward, frightened poses, but she is able to open up and dance freely by the end of the book. I think the illustrator just does a very nice job of visually presenting the central character.

How many times do we ask a child to read a book and to put himself or herself into the main character's shoes? This book allows the young reader to really step into Tanya's toe-shoes, the way I rememeber feeling like I was in Ellen Tebbitts's dance class when I was in the fifth grade. (Remember that book? It was great! It's a chapter-book and I'd recommend it for kids who read on a grade-level higher than those who would find "Presenting Tanya. . ." appropriate.)

As for the written narrative, "Presenting Tanya the Ugly Duckling" is a nice change of pace for a fairy tale. Like me, you probably remember the standard tale as always being told from the point of view of the duckling. In this book, a little girl is the duckling, and it makes it even easier for a young reader to identify with the feelings of the protagonist. All readers will be intrigued by Gauch's use of the French terms for the ballet steps danced by Tanya and her fellow dancers, just as my generation was intrigued by the ballet positions described and illustrated in "Ellen Tebbitts." Any young dancer would enjoy this modern rendition of "The Ugly Duckling."