BALLERINA GARDEN

Ballerinas are like dancing flowers, according to this beguiling picture book.

The Once Upon a Dance book production team pairs colored drawings of ballerinas (and a few male dancers) with reflections on the resonances between them and flowering plants, providing some self-help lessons for young dancers. A picture of a ballerina, resplendent in a daisy-petal tutu and gazing down at an actual daisy sprouting bravely through a crack in the pavement, illustrates the lesson that, like a plant weathering a harsh environment, a dancer must persevere through grueling practice, injuries, and auditions. A ballerina picking at a salad with her chopsticks conveys the wisdom that, just as plants need fertile soil and water, dancers need good nutrition. A ballerina wreathed in morning-glory vines and poised en pointe at the barre teaches readers that dancers must understand the physical balance of forces impinging on their bodies to stand upright, as plants do. A trio of ballerinas, one with a tattoo sleeve and another with a prosthetic right leg, urges readers to cultivate their unique attributes rather than hiding them. Two dancers entwined in a pas de deux demonstrate the importance of teamwork, which is reflected by a garden of many flowering species. And a tableau of a leaping Japanese dancer suggests that, like the evanescent cherry blossom, the beauty of a dance resides in its most fleeting and fragile moments. The slender tome concludes with a list of questions (“What’s one dance-related skill or technique you’ve improved recently?”) to reflect upon. Aimed squarely at current or aspiring ballet students who like flowers, the book offers encouragement to hopefuls with brief snippets of text couched in reassuring fortune-cookie aphorisms (“When rehearsals get tough or setbacks feel overwhelming, remind yourself that each challenge helps you grow stronger and more resilient”). The artwork is sumptuous, featuring delicate blossoms and realistic, though glamorized, dancers, all depicted using vibrant pastels and exquisite line drawings that evoke grace and movement. The result is a warm-hearted homage to ballet and a feast for the eyes.

A winsome, gorgeously illustrated meditation that will fire the imaginations of budding ballerinas.