Bea at Ballet

For the youngest dance enthusiasts, this is a pitch-perfect introduction to ballet. Preschooler Bea attends class with four girls and two boys. They demonstrate the five ballet positions and show four ways dancers move their feet as well as a split, an arabesque, and an attitude. The illustrations' understated style keeps the focus on the children, each of whom is a distinctive character.

For the youngest dance enthusiasts, this is a pitch-perfect introduction to ballet. Little Bea goes to ballet class with four other girls and two boys, all of whom appear to be about three years old (judging from their rounded tummies). Before class begins, we see an itemized list of all the things Bea wears, and all the things her friend Sam wears. We take a peek inside the studio (where everything is also labeled) and meet the piano player, Mr. Paul, and the teacher, Ms. Nancy. Class begins with a warm-up exercise where the children clap in rhythm, and then Bea's classmates demonstrate the five ballet positions and show us four ways dancers move their feet as well as a split, an arabesque, and an attitude. But these are tiny dancers, after all, so the most fun is to be had from spinning around and around. Isadora's illustrations are done in pencil-and-ink drawings with color highlights in oil paint, and her understated style keeps the focus on the children, each of whom is a distinctive character. She skillfully balances basic information with realistic childlike characters -- one boy, for example, quietly opts out of holding hands with his classmates in the end-of-class goodbye bow, but no one makes a fuss about it. Nothing can dampen Bea's enthusiasm for ballet, and she shares it with aplomb. kathleen t. horning