Great Price for $2.99

Degas and the Little Dancer Review

My preschooler loves the artist series of books by Laurence Anholt, who not only writes stories that young children (and yes, even adults) can relate to, but illustrates his works with vibrant colors that seem to almost leap off the pages. In "Degas and the Little Dancer", young Marie aspires to be a famous ballerina, and her poor parents scrimp and save to send her to a good ballet school. There, Marie flourishes, but when tragedy strikes, young Marie may have to give up her ballet lessons. Help arrives in the form of artist/sculptor Edgar Degas (1834-1917) who happens to frequently paint and sculpt the dancers at Marie's school. He offers her money in return for her posing for him. The relationship is initially fraught with tension as Degas is a harsh taskmaster, but one night, Marie glimpses a vulnerable side to the hot-tempered artist.

This is a wonderful introduction to Degas, especially for young readers, and I would recommend the entire artist series of books by Laurence Anholt. They are all well-written, with engaging stories derived from actual events, and gorgeously illustrated (he has also written about Monet, Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Picasso, and others). The message in this book is heartwarming indeed - one's dreams may not always materialize, yet one can still find happiness, albeit in unconventional ways at times.

Degas and the Little Dancer Overview

Many years ago, Marie hoped to be a famous ballerina, but because her family had too little money for lessons she began modeling at the ballet school. The painter for whom she modeled was the artist, Edgar Degas. As Degas' figure of The Little Dancer took shape, Marie began to feel sympathy for the bad-tempered artist. When the sculpture was finished, thousands of art lovers came to see the statue, making Marie the most famous dancer of all. Here is an exquisite introduction to the life of a great nineteenth-century French artist, with beautiful impressionistic illustrations and reproductions of Degas' own work. (Ages 4-7)

From the reviews: "Reading this book always gives me chills! It is the story of Marie, the young ballet dancer who posed for Degas’ famous sculpture. With simple, lyrical text, the story is brought to life by a guard in the Louvre where the statue is displayed. Marie had wanted to be the most famous dancer in the world; and that she is, but not in quite the way she had planned. A touching and beautiful tale!" —Judi Baxter, Edplay , August 2001

Available at Amazon Check Price Now!

Related Products

• The Magical Garden of Claude Monet (Anholt's Artists Books for Children)
• van Gogh and the Sunflowers (Anholt's Artists Books for Children)
• Leonardo and the Flying Boy (Anholt's Artists Books for Children)
• Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail (Anholt's Artists Books for Children)
• Matisse the King of Color (Anholt's Artists Books for Children Series)

Customer Reviews

Great little book - love to read -
I purchased this book for my 4 year old daughter who loves ballet and enjoys reading. she liked the story and really liked the paintings.



I Like This Book... My 4yr old is bored by it - HighHeeledGoddess - USA
I agree this may indeed be a book for slightly older children. My daughter does not like this book nearly as much as I do. The drawings are wonderful, and I plan to buy more from this series when she is a bit older.



Must read if travelling to Paris - Banuta Rubess - Riga, Latvia
My 9 year old daughter read this book just before we went to Paris and literally dragged me to the Musee d'Orsay to see all works by Edgar Degas. She then read everything else by Anholt and is now chafing at the bit to see works by Picasso. Anholt's books are wonderfully illustrated, show the works of the artists, and know how to appeal to a child's imagination. We are fans.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 01, 2010 01:45:06