Reviews

A Dancer's Dream by Katherine Woodfine, Lizzy Stewart

nickimags's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

This is a really lovely book, telling the fictionalised story of the first performance of the Nutcracker ballet. As the synopsis above mentions it tells the story of Stana who is picked to play the lead role of Clara. As well as worrying if she’s up to take on the part she has a huge worry closer to home. I loved the way the author and illustrator wove both these fears into the story. The text is lovely and illustrations that accompany it are just gorgeous.  I love Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and always wanted to see the ballet and this book brought me closer to doing that. I think this book would be a wonderful Christmas present for any child who loves the Nutcracker or who is yet to discover it!

Thanks so much NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s UK for my digital copy via the NetGalley app.

charlottelucyloves's review

4.0

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for a review.

This was such a lovely story! The kind of thing I can imagine myself reading every christmas eve (Along with the nutcracker which I always read every christmas) I dont think the Kindle edition did the illustrations justice and so I am looking forward to seeing this in print!