Miss Lina's Ballerinas and the Wicked Wish

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