When Henry showed up in real armor at the end, my 7 year old laughed out loud! ( )

Miss Lilly's Ballet School has been invited to perform for the Princess of Mouseland, and Angelina hopes to be a prima ballerina. But disaster strikes and she is only given a minor role. Angelina is so disappointed that she wants to quit ballet school, but she decides to work hard for the sake of all her friends in the performance. Then an unexpected turn of events leads to a happy ending for all! ( )

Angelina is a mouse who attends ballet school. She gets sick the day she is suppose to audtition for a royal performance for the princess of mouseland. Her mother tells her to stay home, but she decides to go anyway. She performs poorly and consequently receives a smaller part in the ballet. She is devastated. Her mother encourages her to do her best regardless of her part in the ballet. Angelina shows up everyday for ballet and learns her part. She also learns the main girls' parts.Flora trips during practice and is not able to perform her major role during the ballet. Angelina steps in and the ballet is successful. Everyone is happy and gets what they want in the end.

Critique: Angelina disobeys her mom and she still gets what she wants. Just because you work hard at something does not mean everything will turn out the way you wanted it to.

Think Aloud: Page 1 Why was Angelina too excited to sleep? page 4 Why do you think Angelina was not feeling well the next morning? page 6 Do you think she should have listened to her mom and stayed home? page 10 Why do you think Angelina struggled to remember the dance moves? page 23 Do you think it is important to work hard? why? What lessons can we learn from Angelina?

Craft Elements: Reading/Writing mini-lesson. Have students discuss then write/draw about a time they did not give up even when they felt sad about their circumstances. Give students plenty of examples to help them think of a situation in their own life.

39 months - Angelina is always a hit in our house but I loved the lessons in this one. Angelina isn't perfect at everything but with a good friend to help and lots of practice she can learn to do something well. An even better lesson is to stick by your friends even when they are struggling. ( )

Angelina sneaks out of the housewhen she wakes up sick on the morning of auditions to dance in a special ballet for The Princess of Mouseland. She attempts to performs the dance, but is too weak to do so and watches as the leading roles in the Dance of the Flower Fairies go to two of her friends.Angelina’s disappointment at the outcome of the auditions is met with her mother’s advice to still do her best with whatever part she is given to help the whole performance, advice which leads to the message that being a good friend and team player usually leads to positive outcomes. Craig’s detailed, colorful illustrations depicting the ballet school’s preparations for the performance will capture the attention of young children who dream Angelina’s dreams with her. Ballerina mice have never looked so adorable as in the leotards they wear (with a different color for each mouse).The ending is optimistic and leaves the reader as happy as the characters in the story. ( )