Series:

Ella Bella Ballerina

1 primary work • 6 total works

Book 3

Cover of Ella Bella Ballerina and Swan Lake
The newest title in Barron's charming Ella Bella series tells another story of Ella Bella, a little girl who loves to dance. In this story, Ella's kindly ballet teacher Madame Rosa is preparing her class to dance in Tchaikovsky's immortal Swan Lake, and as Ella learns the story and listens to the music she is transported in a dream into Swan Lake's setting. There, she meets Odette, a beautiful princess who is transformed into a swan by an evil sorcerer. This beautiful volume's story is enhanced with James Mayhew's color illustrations. A brief passage at the back of the book recounts the life of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his creation of the music for this famous ballet.

Cover of Ella Bella Ballerina and the Sleeping Beauty
Ella Bella longs to be a beautiful ballerina, and so each week she goes to Madame Rosa's ballet class at the old theatre. As we all know, theatres are magical places where anything can happen, and sure enough, as soon as Ella Bella opens Madame Rosa's magical musical box on the empty stage, she's whisked off in a beautiful lilac light to Sleeping Beauty's palace. But will she be able to help the Lilac Fairy save Sleeping Beauty from the bad fairy's wicked spell?

Cover of Ella Bella Ballerina and Cinderella
Ella Bella loves her ballet class, which is conducted by the kindly Madame Rosa at an old theatre that seems touched by magic. One day, when Ella loses one of her slippers, Madame Rosa lends her another pair for dancing--and is then reminded of Cinderella and her story of the lost slipper. Madame Rosa recounts the tale to her students, and Ella Bella listens with heightened interest. When their day's lesson has ended Ella lingers at the theatre, then opens Madame Rosa's music box and listens as it plays melodies from the Cinderella ballet. Suddenly, Cinderella's fairy godmother magically appears, and Ella Bella is transported into the beloved story of Cinderella. This delightful book's final page describes the ballet Cinderella, with music by the great Russian composer, Sergei Prokofiev.

Cover of Ella Bella Ballerina and the Nutcracker
Christmas is coming, and Madame Rosa has prepared a surprise party for her ballet class. "Ella Bella, would you fetch the music box?" asks Madame Rosa. "Then we can have some dancing at our party." As the music begins playing, little Ella Bella is magically transported into the enchanting, festive world of The Nutcracker ballet. There, she meets the beautiful Clara and her wooden Nutcracker doll. Together, Ella and Clara must fight off the evil Mouse King so they can break the evil spell that has transformed a handsome prince into the Nutcracker doll. When the spell is broken and the prince comes to life, he leads Clara and Ella to a magic forest where they dance to the music of the famous Nutcracker ballet. On the last page of this beautifully illustrated story, young readers learn about the origins of The Nutcracker ballet, its music written in 1892 by the composer Piotr Tchaikovsky for Russia's famous Imperial Ballet.

Cover of Ella Bella Ballerina and A Midsummer Night's Dream

Everyone's favourite little dancer, Ella Bella Ballerina, steps out of fairytales and into the world of Shakespeare as she goes on a magical adventure in Fairyland, with Puck, King Oberon and Queen Titania. Who will the queen fall in love with when under the king's spell? And what will become of the hapless actor Bottom, transformed into a donkey?

Beautifully illustrated and perfectly pitched for a young audience and all would-be prima ballerinas, and a wonderful very first introduction to the stories of the ballet and Shakespeare. From James Mayhew, the creator of the Katie series of books - featuring the hugely engaging Katie and making art an adventure for every child.

Cover of Ella Bella Ballerina and the Magic Toyshop

Everyone's favourite little dancer, Ella Bella Ballerina, steps into an enchanted toyshop in this magical
ballet adventure.

Discover a world of fairytale toymakers and dancing dolls in in this beautiful introduction to classic ballet, La Boutique Fantastique. With a sparkling foiled cover and exquisitely detailed illustrations, this is the perfect gift for all would-be ballerinas.

Look out for the other books in the series:

Ella Bella and A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ella Bella Ballerina and Swan Lake
Ella Bella Ballerina and Cinderella
Ella Bella Ballerina and The Sleeping Beauty
Ella Bella Ballerina and The Nutcracker