Firebird: Ballerina Misty Copeland Shows a Young Girl How to Dance Like the Firebird
“The space between you and me is longer than forever” says a young girl watching an accomplished ballerina. “I could never hope to leap the space between.” The ballerina disagrees, noting that she, too, was once “a dreaming shooting star of a girl / with work and worlds ahead.” The young dancer’s discouragement is transformed by words that don’t disregard the sweat and falls and failure that come before success but also affirm that with practice the girl’s dream can come true. Someday she may be the one that young dancers look to with wonder, and dreams of their own. The stirring narrative is followed by an encouraging personal note to the reader from ballerina Misty Copeland. Christopher Myers’s colorful, energetic paintings showing the two African American dancers incorporate many visual references to the Firebird role that Copeland has danced, from the feathers of its wings in the stage curtains and the sky to the fiery colors that pulse from many pages. ©2014 Cooperative Children's Book Center
Illustrated by Christopher Myers
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 5-10
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format:
Picture book
Subjects:
Affirmation
African Americans
Dance and Dancers
Perseverance
Diversity subject:
Black/African
Publisher:
Putnam
Publish Year: 2014
Pages: 32
ISBN: 9780399166150
CCBC Location: Picture Book, Copeland