Ballet for Beginners: Featuring the School of American Ballet    by Mary Kate Mellow & Stephanie Troeller Order:  USA  Can Charlesbridge, 2011 (2011) Hardcover      Reviewed by Bob Walch Join Prima Princessa as she takes young readers on an exploration of the wonderful world of ballet. You'll see some very young dancers (ages four and up) learn about creative movement, musicality and pantomime. Then it is on to New York's School of American Ballet for a visit to the the Children's Ballet Division. Here you'll see a demonstration of the basics of ballet. After some posture and stretching exercises, there are pictures of young girls demonstrating the basic positions. Soon you'll know the difference between plie and releve as well as pas de chat or arabesque. After an older dancer demonstrates some of the more advanced positions, the book ends with seeing how a ballerina prepares to go on stage. You'll also be the audience for her special dress rehearsal where she puts everything together. Lots of color photographs along with instructions on how to hold one's body for each position make this the ideal book to give a youngster who is considering ballet lessons. After she pores over this and takes it all in, she'll have a much better idea whether this is something she wants to spend her time doing. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Kids books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews