Angelina and Alice (Angelina Ballerina)

Angelina and Alice are good friends, and they do gymnastics together. But when Angelina can't keep up, some feelings get hurt.

Katherine Holabird and Helen Craig add another Angelina Ballerina book to their growing pile. The story is overall convenient and tidy, and doesn't resolve the feelings that

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get stirred up when Alice joins some of the older children in laughing at Angelina's mistakes. It's highly gender binary, too--in gym class, only and all the boys practice the rings, while only girls dance with ribbons. The illustrations are fairly engaging, though practiced and unoriginal. Some might argue the point is that Angelina didn't give up on her friend coming through for her, but I'd say she accepted help from someone who hurt her without learning to stand up for herself, or express her hurt or angry feelings. A fine book if you want to teach girls to maintain low self-esteem. Grades 1-2 if you insist on stocking it.

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I liked this book for many reasons, but I was indifferent about a certain part of the book. I really liked the characters because I think that even though they are mice, they are believable. Angelina and Alice love doing gymnastics, but Angelina is not as good as Alice. When Angelina falls over,

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and the older girls laugh at her and call her “Angelina Tumbelina,” Alice joins in. I feel like this could really happen. It’s really easy to join the crowd, even if it’s not the right thing to do. I liked how the author resolved the conflict by having Alice help Angelina with her gymnastics. The only issue I had with the book was the names used. I did not like that they both started with A. After reading the book, I had to go back and really remember which character did what. The central message of this book is friendship. Even though Alice was mean, and hurt Angelina’s feelings, she helps Angelina with her gymnastics so that she does not get made fun of anymore.

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