Simply LOVED it. Taking after Charles and Mary Lamb, McCaughrean tells beautifully illustrated versions of the stories of ten classic ballets. This was given to my sister (a dancer) when she was about 9; strangely I, who cannot dance to save my life, was the one rapt by it. To this day, I have a particularly strong love of the ballets "The Firebird", "Petrouchka" and "Gisele" because of this book. Love it. ( )

I picked this up because I love Angela Barrett's illustrations, and while I found much to admire, as always, in her art, I was most delighted by Geraldine McCaughrean's retellings. McCaughrean explains the stories behind the ballets with verve and clever touches of dialogue and detail, but she also manages to capture the very movement of the dance. I could almost imagine exactly how the characters might dance the story, how they'd exit and enter the stage, even how that stage might be dressed for Christmas or a city street, an ominous wood or a hidden castle. ( )

i liked the way the stories were told and ab's drawings are wonderful ( )