Stella is a Star: With CD - Hardcover

Bernadette Peters has led a dazzling career on Broadway and in theaters and concert halls around the world, playing such memorable roles as the witch in Into the Woods and Mama Rose in Gypsy. She is the cofounder, with Mary Tyler Moore, of Broadway Barks, a charity that finds homes for shelter animals. Her passion for animals is the inspiration behind this book.

Liz Murphy was born in England and lives with her family in Montclair, New Jersey. She is a graduate of the Kingston Art College, where she majored in graphic design.

Kindergarten-Grade 2—Stella is a lonely pit bull who uses a crown and fake tail to masquerade as a pig princess in order to join a dance class and meet friends. Her classmates are skeptical about her porcine roots but are interrupted by elegant Madame Cochon, who drills the youngsters and Stella for an important recital. Stella's initial clumsiness disappears with her faithful practice of pirouettes, pliés, and jetés. When the show's star is injured, Madame selects her to perform the famous "32 perfect turns." Despite dreading the necessity of removing the crown she believes hides her identity, Stella is a grand success on stage, and she learns that everyone knew all along she was neither a princess nor a pig. The final page has lyrics for a "follow your dream" song. Peters reads the story and sings the song on the accompanying CD. Murphy's paintings with collage provide all the ideals of ballet, from frothy tutus to embroidered bodices, and her animals' expressions are priceless. Her upright pigs in leotards are graceful and Madame's stern expressions are flawless. Although the concluding song's lyrics are cumbersome and on the verge of saccharine, this story will please ballet fans, and any little girls who have felt left out.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA
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