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7 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 Another Fine Children's Book from the Pen and Brush of Sally O. Lee Sep 22, 2008
By Grady Harp
Sally O. Lee is rapidly becoming a consistently reliable resource of sensitive and handsomely produced children's books. Writing has become an important adjunct to her gifts as a painter and graphic artist. Her most recent book 'The Rabbit and the Snowman' is gathering a large reading audience not only because the story is simple and carries an important learning message to the children fortunate enough to hear and own the book, but it also is beautifully illustrated in the manner that appeals to the eyes of her intended audience of 4 to 8 year olds.
In THE TUTU BALLET Lee once again takes us into the forest where the characters are children of animals - bears, foxes, rabbits, and mice - all gathered for the ballet school by prim ex-prima ballerina Ms. Berry. The students all love the class but excel in one particular aspect of the spectrum of ballet: Belinda the bear is capable of the high kicks in the air, Harriet the hare is particularly gifted at spinning, Fillippo the fox is especially good at jumping, and Mirabel the mouse concentrates her talent in perfecting the plié. Ms. Berry thoughtfully analyzes these individual special talents and brings the four students and their specialties into a grand ballet that takes advantage of the gifts of each student. A successful group activity!
Without becoming preachy Sally O. Lee provides a colorfully illustrated story that just happens to have an important lesson about individuality and the ability to work together as a group. The message is so natural that it is easily incorporated into the minds of the children reading (or being read) the story. And once again the book is of the size that children can easily manage to 'review' after the reader has left the room. Lee needs to continue this very successful line of attracting, interesting, and learning oriented books - she has the knack down pat! Grady Harp, September 08
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Children's Book Review: "The Tutu Ballet" Nov 30, 2008
By Kevin Tipple
This very short children's book tells the tale of Ms. Berry, the ballet teacher, and her four students. The four students are Belinda the Bear, Mirabel the Mouse, Harriet the Hare, and the Fillippo the Fox. Each student has a preferred dance move and they don't want to do anything else. So, after Ms. Berry tried hard to get them to work together and follow instructions, she decides to go with each student's favorite dance steps for their first recital. Each student will do their own thing and trigger the next student until the four have each done their own move. The resulting recital is a huge success. "The audience cheered and it was the best ballet ever." End of book.
According to the copyright page, the book is "a story about tolerance, patience, creativity, teamwork, and love." As a parent and education professional, I would say it is more a story of how everyone is considered a winner these days no matter what they do. This mentality has infected our school systems where every child gets a sticker of some thing regardless of ability or effort. Such is the case here. Instead of actual learning to follow instructions given by their teacher, Ms. Berry, the children do what they want from start to finish. It is the adult role model, the former prima ballerina, who ends up surrendering to their behavior and letting children do what they want to do. In fact, by coming up with the plan for the recital, the adult has encouraged the independent do what you will behavior to continue in the future. While the age group targeted may not pick upon that message the adults certainly will. Even for a children's book, these characters show no growth at all. The moral of the book seems to be let the kids do what they want and everyone will be happy.
Unfortunately, things don't work that way. Even if one can get by the moral theme, there are other issues with the book. For example, the illustrations are flat with everyone depicted as half smiling regardless of circumstances. There is a woodeness to the depictions that while the figures are colorful, they have no life to them. The poses may change, but there is no change to the characters and they remain uniformly the same throughout the book.
The biggest issue is the typeface. "This book is typeset in 'snowman' created by Sally O. Lee" according to the copyright page. The typeface itself seems to be nothing special and is rather small. The main issue is that the typeface is often set directly on top of the watercolor illustrations, making the unrythmic text virtually unreadable. This is somewhat depicted on the cover with the "story and illustrations by sally o. lee" blending into the illustration and there are stronger examples inside the book itself.
With a text that pushes the do anything and its great agenda, flat illustrations and unreadable typeface in many places throughout the book, I have to caution parents strongly to avoid this self published book. This one doesn't work on many levels and is a real disappointment.
Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2008
A reviewer note--Clearly, this is a minority opinion and therefore I expect to be rated down accordingly here at Amazon and not rated over the actual quality of the review itself. This frequently happens at Amazon when I don't agree with the positive reviews on a book and I am not suprised when it does. When I rate a review, I do it concerning the quality of the review and not the position it takes. Others disagree and that is fine.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Cute book for young ballerinas Dec 23, 2008
By T. Gleason
The illustrations are colorful and engaging, and the story has a nice lesson for young girls. I did like the way the characters have their own unique talents, which independently wouldn't make a good dance, but when they all work together, they have a wonderful show. Teamwork is a great lesson for the target audience, and my daughter also related to the fact that some girls in her own ballet class have different strengths than others. The book is cute, and was well received by my 6 year old. Definitely a book we'll read more than once.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
My kids liked it Dec 23, 2008
By Denise Ogerly
My 4 year old twins girls are learning to read, and they really enjoyed this book. It was creative and very "girlie".
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
The Tutu Ballet Dec 12, 2008
By C. Maynard
"The Tutu Ballet" was a pleasing book to read overall. The story is about four animals that live in the forest that join the forest dance class. Though the teacher tries to teach each one all the movements of ballet, each student seems to only be able to master one single move apiece. At first the teacher is frustrated by this, but then decides to have them put their individual moves together to work as a team to perform the ballet.
It is a cute story with a simple moral. My son enjoyed the book (as he loves animals) and the illustrations are pretty. The font may be a challenge for younger readers to read. Overall a nice book to add to your collection.
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