Beautiful Black Ballerinas

For the last day in our series on Black ballerinas, we are emphasizing the “picture” in picture book with the illustrious photography of Susan Kuklin in Beautiful Ballerina by Marilyn Nelson.

This book features photographs of four real girls from the Dance Theater of Harlem, accompanied by simple, poetic text. It is in a word, “Beautiful!” Appropriate for younger children with guidance.

Whether to encourage youngsters to pursue their dreams or to take up dance as a way to get off the couch, Beautiful Ballerina is an inspiring book!

Age Range: 7 – 10 years
Publisher: Scholastic Press; First Edition edition (September 1, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0545089204
ISBN-13: 978-0545089203

Related Materials

Looking for more background information?

This trailer for an upcoming documentary explains some of the struggles being a Black Ballerina.

Do you follow Instagram? Brown Girls Do Ballet® has more beautiful photographs.

Deborah Amadei has suggestions for activities using some of the featured books at Nonfiction Monday.

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Summary of our posts this week about Children’s Books Celebrating Black Ballerinas: