Ella Sets The Stage

by Carmela D'Amico, Steve D'Amico

The school on Elephant Island is holding a talent show, and all the children are excited -- all the children, that is, except for Ella. Belinda's going to do ballet, Tiki's planned a magic act, but Ella doesn't have a single idea. She can't sing, dance, or play an instrument -- doesn't Ella have any talent at all?

Then comes the night of the big show, and Ella discovers her own special talent that shines very bright -- even when she's not in the limelight. Carmela and Steve D'Amico put friendship center stage in this third charming elephant adventure.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Friendship, Fiction, Animals

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Tina Haigler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was cute enough, but I feel like it was longer than necessary, and what should've been the most important part of the book almost got skipped over entirely. It focuses on a lot of the wrong details and the epiphany of the main character--which doesn't even happen until the last page--gets one sentence. No inner monologue, no explanations as to how she came to her realization, no verbalizing of the main theme of the story, practically nothing at all. An adult's mind will pick up on things but most kid's brains don't work like ours; they need more context clues, which this book didn't really have. The art was nice and colorful--done in what I believe to be paint and colored pencil--and had a Russian school vibe, at least to me. Unfortunately, the only times I would recommend this for is when a kid aged 8 to 12 needs ideas for an upcoming talent show, or they are experiencing stage fright.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a fan of this cute little elephant after reading her debut book, although I didn't find the first story nearly as charming as the illustrations. Thankfully, this sequel seems much stronger! Here we have Ella worried about what her talent will be for the school's talent show--she is very shy and not sure she has the sort of talent that will take center stage. When she begins to work behind the scenes, though, Ella's talent blossoms. I like that this shows that it takes more than the "star" in the spotlight to make a successful performance; and that sometimes our best talents are not the "showy" kind, either ;-)

[Milton Public Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ella is an elephant, from an alternate island world of elephants who all look like dogs, possibly?
And Ella is invited to a talent show, but doesn't think she has talent, but discovers that being a helper is pretty good too. And your kids will, for some reason, love it immensely and ask you to read it many times over.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but I love the other ones. This had great illustrations like the others, but I didn't like the ending. I would have liked it if they had said what Ella's talent was. Was it organizing? Being helpful? Who knows! I would have liked to have an answer for clarification.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great one to read with little kiddies preparing for their own concert!

[Valencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very sweet story. The elephants were drawn strangely so I took a star off for that.

[Ms. Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved that this book shows students that there is more than one way of being gifted. It is not only being talented but being helpful towards others. Love the message!

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

“For someone as shy as Ella, getting up in front of an audience was as far from fun and festive as anything she could imagine.”

Talent: a special natural ability. Ella wondered if she even had a talent. All her friends seem to have an idea for the talent show, but Ella doesn’t. In addition, getting up on stage in front of people seems a bit scary, but Ella tries to think of something. In the meantime, she joins the Talent Show committee and helps to get everything ready for the big day. And on the day of the performance, she does plenty to help her friends be successful. It seems Ella has a talent after all.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My niece and nephew were both very captivated by this book. They sat quietly and listened as I read (that's rare), and they absorbed all that was going on. I don't know that my nephew quite understood what was happening in this story, but he certainly enjoyed the pictures and took them in. He insisted that Ella was a boy, however, so he was trying to figure out why "he" was wearing a dress. Once a three year old's mind is made up, that's it. We just had to work around that.

My niece informed me that she really enjoyed this book, and thought that it was a good one. At the end I did ask her what Ella's talent was, and she didn't know. We went through and looked at the pictures again to see if we could figure it out, but again, Ella's special skills eluded her. Once I explained that Ella's talent was managing the show and making sure that it went well, of course she understood, and was better able to appreciate the story, but the point did not readily jump out at her.

Still, this is a good story that I think many school-aged children will be able to identify with. I liked the message, and I thought the pictures were nicely done as well. And despite *some* people's opinions, Ella's dress was lovely, whether she's a girl or a boy!

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first “Ella” book and I loved it. I was very touched by Ella, a shy elephant who feels she has no talent. She has many, it turns out, and of course baking cupcakes is a wonderful talent. How could anyone think otherwise?!

Ella is so incredibly endearing. The story, about elephants who are very much like humans!, flows well and held my interest. Even though I knew there would be a happy ending, I was eager to see what would happen throughout.

As someone who vacillated between extreme shyness (taking an F rather than giving a class report) to taking drama and public speaking, and also not having any particular talent (such as singing, dancing, the types of activities performed in talent shows) I really felt for Ella. All the characters around her were interesting too, but Ella is kind, resourceful, clever, a hard worker, altruistic, talented, and she overcomes some of her shyness, all of which make her a true star.

The illustrations are adorable. I’m sure it helps that I’ve always really liked elephants. Frankie’s puppets made me laugh: another elephant and a lion??

[Cassandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having just read this for the sixth or seventh time, I realise I am finding it increasingly problematic. The art is quite charming, and on the surface it is a pleasant story; Ella is shy, and cannot figure out what to do in the talent show, but ends up organising much of it and is rewarded at the end. But it is made very regressive, to me, by the fact that Ella's talent is framed not really as organising, or managing, but instead (as her mother says) as 'making people happy'. It is all about pleasing her friends -- she organises the talent show so that Frankie doesn't have to, and she brings snacks for her friends (not for the entire class), and at the end she is not thanked because the teacher recognises the work she is done, but because Ella's friends tell the teacher _they_ want to thank her. So it is very much, again, the Angel in the House; Ella works to please others, and is rewarded for it, but it is all personal, done inside of relationships, and thus stereotypically feminine, and thus not a message I am terribly comfortable with my daughter internalising.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost wanted to say I loved this book, and for someone who doesn't give 5 stars out very often, I wasn't ready to give this one that award, but I did really like it.

Not all people have 'obvious' talents. We can't all be dancers, Violist, Singers, etc.

Ella has other very amazing talents, like creativity and kindness. I sometimes wish the "Beauty" P agents had a talent portion that wasn't, dance, music, poetry. Because there are so many things people are talented in. Some people are great on computers, others ride a bike really fast...some people are great at fixing things..not really something you can display at a talent show.

The pictures are cute, the story is great and an important lesson to kids, that everyone has a talent, it is how you develop it!

[Kaitlyn Petkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about about a young elephant, Ella, whose school has a talent show coming up. She searches from what her talent can be, but is unable to find what she is good at. She becomes discouraged and decides to work behind the scenes of the talent show. On the night if the talent show something goes wrong with everyone's act. Can Ella help them?

The images in this book were very appealing. The colors are bright and very appealing. The main color is blue which is a calming color for children. Some of the pages are full bleeds with the text in the image, but other pages have smaller illustrations.

This book would be great for children who are shy. This book shows that you do not have to be on stage to do wonderful things for the show.

[eRin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The little school on Elephant Island is holding a talent show and everyone is encouraged to participate. Ella is having some troubles, though--she can't seem to find her talent. She tries singing and juggling and drumming and lots of other things, but none of them are her special talent. Until she sees the sign for the Talent Show Committee and she wanders in and is soon put to work. She is so busy helping out the show she doesn't have time to worry about her talent. But does she have a hidden talent after all?

Such a cute little book, another in the Ella series. I love the quaint little illustrations and the sweet stories. Yay for Ella!

[Lbrown107 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book can inspire children to find what they are good at and distinguish themselves as unique individuals and build self esteem. I would use this book as a read aloud if there was an upcoming talent show at school because I would want my students to know that they each have their own unique talent. I would use this book to show the students that sometimes a person’s talent is apparent and sometimes it takes a while to find what you are good at. I would also have my students write a paragraph about what they are good at what they think they are good at. Then we could have our own little ‘talent show’ of sharing these ideas.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun story, a great introduction to Ella for my son. We were lucky enough to have the book signed and get to meet one of the authors. Being a stage manager/production person myself this story hit home, and I was able to tie that in well while reading it to my son. Since elephants are one of his FAVORITE animals, this made the book a perfect fit. I highly recommend this to anyone who has kids!!!!!! Great message, that All have talents!

[Steve Holden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This provided a fun read aloud for my students as some prepare for our school talent show this week. Ella is an elephant - a shy one, of course - and this story about Ella dealing with that shyness is one many students can easily connect to. The illustrations are a lot of fun to look at, and the cast of characters are fun. This is a cute series, and one I'd recommend for young readers.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter loves shy Ella and what I love most about this book (both as a mom and as a drama teacher) is the emphasis it places on how it's just as important to honor those kids who work behind the scenes as those who perform on stage. Very sweet.

[Lana Clifton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a must read if your school has talent shows for children of diverse abilities. Ella, the elephant with stage fright, wins the talent show by supporting her friends. This book is a good pick me up for any child having trouble finding their inner potential.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books says you can do anything you set your mind to. You may not think you have a talent but everyone is good at something. Ella found that her talent was helping people. She finall accepted it and even came away with an award from the talent show.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice one for Miss Madeline - to show that even the flashy, spotlight-loving kids need a stage manager/producer to run the show... there's a place for everyone and some people's talents are managing everyone else.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book to my kids. It's a very good take on those of us whose talents are more "behind-the-scenes" then public performances. It takes all kinds to make the world go round, and Ella proves it.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another present to my Ella. I actually think this one is a little better suited for younger kids but still best for school aged children. Although we love it.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, what a wonderful book! Ella discovers that her talents for the talent show aren't necessarily the ones that would put her out on stage.

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute picture book with message that even if you don't have talent to sing, dance, play an instrument, you still have talents to share.
Good for use with elementary kids.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter Ella loves this series!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about our many talents that we may not even be aware of.

[Xiaohui · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade 2

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

we love Ella in this house. we watch the show too. there are so many books in this series and they all are great.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book SO much better than the first Ella book. To me, there was still some rough spots in the story, but overall it was a very sweet book with adorable illustrations.