Customer Reviews

A Very Young Dancer

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While Jill Krementz is a talented photographer, what my daughter and I really loved about this series was the very detailed text. She was fascinated to learn that each level at the School of American Ballet wears a different color leotard. She sympathized with the dancer who wants a new role in The Nutcracker, but gets the same casting. She learned the difference between a class, a rehearsal, and a performance - all opportunities to dance, but each with a specific purpose.
The original Jill Krementz books, like this one, were printed in black and white. A few later books ("A Very Young Skier") are in full color. But while the color photos look more contemporary and appealing, the later books are "dumbed down" - the text is very short, more like picture captions than narrative.
For the wonderful sense of detail you need the classic titles like "A Very Young Dancer." They make a dancer's life so real, a young reader can easily picture herself (or himself) doing the same. And that's the real power of this series: instead of being a passive spectator, the young reader becomes a participant. My daughter is now dancing in The Nutcracker for her ninth (and last) year. I think "A Very Young Dancer" was a big help along the way.

I am a ballet dancer. I have been dancing for 15 years now, and this is still one of my favorite books. I was introduced to it when I was about 5 and it facinated me. The whole story seemed true to what I knew about ballet and Stephanie, the main character, lived my biggest dreams! For years, I only borrowed it from the library, and soon it was one of the most worn in their collection! Finally, we moved away and the next library didn't have it, but Mom found it at a used book store and bought it for me. I ended up meeting David Richards, a teacher in the book, at a ballet competition and he signed it for me. He told me that Stephanie doesn't dance any more, and I don't think she ever made it into New York City Ballet company or any other ballet company. Like I said earlier, I've been dancing 15 years and this book, to me, is even more a true embodiment of what the every-day life of a ballet dancer is! I've known this book so long that I can quote it forwards and backwards, and almest every sentence is or has been true for me! I just finished a run of Nutcracker and, "I tore a little pink ribbon off the pantaloons that I wore in the party scene to keep for a souvenir."-to quote page 118. I am positive that current dancers, former dancers, future dancers, and sancers in their dreams will absolutly love this book, especially because it is so true to what they feel!

I am very partial to this book because it was one of my favorites when I was a little girl. I do believe this book is an absolute must-have for any young girl who takes part in the performing arts, particularly ballet. A VERY YOUNG DANCER is about a beautiful little girl named Stephanie who is a student at the prestigious American School of Ballet. We see her learning technique with her fellow students under the direction of David Howard. Eventually, we see her live the dream of many little would-ballerinas as Stephanie is chosen for the part of Mary (or Clara in many versions) in the New York City Ballet's production of the Nutcracker. I think the most important aspect of this book is the message--hard work, determination, and a good attitude are essential for making dreams come true.

I received this book as a Christmas gift around 1980, I believe. I cannot tell you how much this book meant to me as a girl. I must have read it about 200 times. My mother recently moved and was going through all our childhood things and found the book packed away. She gave it to me. I was so delighted because I thought I'd lost the book years ago. I sat down immediately and read it again. And yep...its still as good as it ever was.

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. A Very Young Dancer was one of her picks.

This is a story of a girl, Stephanie, who has the starring girl's role in The Nutcracker at age 10. The book is full of wonderful photographs that show ballet as it is experienced by the dancers. The story is written as though by Stephanie, so you see the world from her perspective.

My daughter loved this story so much, that she would beg me to keep reading. I would keep going until my voice was so hoarse I could not continue. And I loved the story, too.

Almost all little girls become interested in ballet at some point. This book is a wonderful way to encourage and expand on that interest while your child is too young to actually begin training. The material in this book can help sustain an interest in ballet later on, either as a dancer or as a fan. It will certainly encourage everyone who reads it to see The Nutcracker performed again this holiday season.

Although the story is focused on Stephanie, she also dances with eleven year old Stephen in The Nutcracker. Other male figures include Shaun O'Brien who plays Drosselmeyer and Stephanie's teacher, David Richardson. So boys who are interested in ballet will also find role models here.

Overcome your misconceptions that being a child star is bad for children with this heart-warming book about learning, growing up, beauty, and sharing with others.

When I was a little girl I took this book out of the library every chance I got. If I thought I could have gotten away with it, I would never have given it back. It reminds me of everything I dreamed about when I was about 9 or 10 years old. Fantastic book.

I first read A Very Young Dancer when I was about seven years old. I only took one term of ballet, but I have always loved it, and made it a tradition to check this beautiful book out from the public library every christmas, right through high school. After reading long memoirs by such NYC Ballet dancers as Edward Villele, I always came back to the photographs in this book...Jill Krementz is wonderful, all of her "Very Young.." books are highly recomended for children, who will probably reread them as adults and remember wanting to be in the circus, or win ice skating championships, like the talented children in this series. A Very Young dancer, however, is the best of the lot. Stephanie, the young narrator and star, feels like a friend...I memorized the photographs of her rehearsals as the lead in The Nutcracker, and scorned small town productions of is as a older child, saying it wasn't the same as the NYCB one...though I had never been to New York.

This book is a treasure, for a child of any age with an interest, however passing, in ballet.

(Some pretty big ballet characters appear, as well, from Peter Martin to George Balanchine himself.)

Jill Krementz has triumphed once again in her "Very Young" books, this one about a young ballarina preparing for her role in a children's production of "The Nutcracker." Krementz' beautiful black and white photography and simple- but-not-sappy text is wonderful. This book is especially appropriate for 5 to 10 year olds but will be treasured for a lifetime. The children in the "Very Young" books are all real. "A Very Young Ballerina" can open the door into the world of dance for a young person by showing what another young person has acheived. It can also open the door into the world at large and show that their dreams are attainable. I highly recommend this book for any young person or the young at heart who still believe the world is a beautiful place.

I read this book about 500 times as a child. I just came across it at my parents house and my 6 year old daughter is devouring it right now. It makes me so happy to see her enjoy something I loved so much.

Though I have not seen the book myself, both my daughter and granddaughter love A Very Young Dancer. My granddaughter is five and very interested in ballet. The book has inspired her.