Miss Lina's Ballerinas and the Wicked Wish

November 19, 2012
In the third story to feature Miss Lina and her ballet students, a dapper visitor to the class offers a big opportunity for the children to star in a production of Sleeping Beauty—eight as ballerinas, and two as rats. Unhappily assigned to be a rat, Regina is plagued by nightmares of rodents, and wishes for a ballerina to get sick so that she can take her place. An even worse nightmare awaits Regina in class, though, as one student after another suffers illness and injury. Davenier’s fluid brushstrokes are still a lovely match for Maccarone’s alliterative verse. It’s an empathic and gently humorous story about a challenging emotion, delivered with a hint of Bemelmans’s Madeline
stories—and of magic. Ages 4–up.

September 1, 2012
One of Miss Lina's nine lovely ballerinas suffers pangs of jealously when casting is announced for The Sleeping Beauty. Regina falls off balance when the company director holds auditions, resulting in a domino effect for the other eight girls and the one boy, Tony Farina. She and Tony will perform as rats who pull the Bad Fairy's carriage, while the others will hold aloft garlands as they waltz. Unhappy thoughts fill Regina's heart and head as she goes to bed. "She wished to waltz, and that was that!" In her dreams, all the girls fall ill and suffer injuries, but dancing their roles is too-too much for poor Regina. She wishes them well and awakens to find her wish has come true. On opening night, all dance with "spirit and heart" and "very pretty poses," which are followed by a "shower of roses." Once again, Maccarone has crafted an appealing story in verse. The subject matter turns more serious this time around as Regina visualizes the consequences of her bad feelings and tames them. Davenier's delicate, pastel-hued illustrations convey Regina's full range of emotions, and a lovely double-page-spread finale depicts an inviting scene from the ballet. Applause for another lovely production from the author-and-illustrator duo. (glossary of ballet terms, summary of The Sleeping Beauty ballet) (Picture book. 3-8)

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October 1, 2012

PreS-Gr 2-Miss Lina and her ballerinas are back in their third adventure. An upcoming performance in need of child dancers looms; Regina dances poorly and gets assigned the part of a rat. Disappointed, she thinks that if someone got sick, she would get that part. In the morning, first one girl, then another falls ill, until Regina is dancing numerous parts but not competently. She thinks it strange, perhaps a dream, and goes to bed wishing everyone were well. In the morning, her wish comes true and she is happy to dance the part of the rat. Davenier's appealingly impressionistic, Madeline-inspired illustrations dance across the pages in scenes of full-bleed spreads to spot art. Maccarone's back matter includes a list of ballet terms with definitions and pronunciations and a plot summary for the Sleeping Beauty ballet. While the singsongy verses mostly work, at times the rhymes fall in awkward spots in the sentences, or the meter suddenly changes, making for a choppy read-aloud. The moral is heavy-handed, and it is unclear whether or not the dream sequence was real. Libraries with high demand for the first two books might consider this one.-Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT

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