Baseball Ballerina

Baseball Ballerina

by Kathryn Cristaldi, Abby Carter (Illustrator)

Illus. in full color. A shortstop in a tutu? Not if she can help it! Forced by her mother into taking ballet lessons, a die-hard tomboy discovers that there's team spirit at the barre as well as on the baseball diamond.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Sports, Baseball, 2nd Grade, Fiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1992

Reviews

[Melinda Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two little girls play baseball, but their mothers make them take ballet, as well. They hate ballet and are afraid if the team finds out they will think they are wimps. The teacher tells of a recital coming up, and one of them gets to wear a crown. She thinks it's cool and doesn't worry about the team, but her friend still worries. At the recital, the girl with the crown makes a mistake, and what do you think happens? Do you think the team will laugh at them or cheer them on? This book teaches children that they can develop as many talents as they choose, and not to worry about what others think.

[Jamie Winslow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl loves to play baseball for his team the Sharks but her mother thinks she needs to do more girly things and makes her take ballet. She does not like ballet. Her best friend Mary Ann is also on her baseball team and in her ballet class. A recital is approaching and Mary Ann gets picked to be the Queen Dandilion. Mary Ann starts to like ballet while her friend still prefers baseball. She does not want her baseball team to find out she takes ballet and worries they will not want her on the team. She is really nervous for the recital and spots her baseball team in the crowd. When the performance begins Mary Ann darts out on stage and looses her crown. The friend dashes across the stage and is able to catch the crown just as if it were a baseball. The crowd starts to cheer and her baseball team is very impresses. They all give high fives. The performance was a hit!

[Natalie Pietro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember my dad bring this book home for me and being so excited to give it to me. He knew I loved dance, being his little ballerina and he all ways made me play softball even though I was never any good at it.
This book has me writin all over it. We sat on the couch like normal and read. Me reading my book and him reading his. I laugh now, I finished it in one sitting and remembering that look on my dads face when I told him I completed the book. "I just bought you that book. You can't be done with it all ready.".
I guess even though it's very short and a silly read I love the memories this book holds. :)

[Colleen Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a good book to read for grades 1-3. It is about a girl who is forced to try ballet instead of playing baseball. It has a great lesson about if you never try something you will never know if you like it or not. It encourages students to try new things and gain new experience. It also teaches children to accept everyone no matter what their individual interests are.

[Kristen Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the fact that this book addresses gender roles. I have read sooo many books about little girls being ballerinas and this is honestly refreshing. The main character is a strong and simple female character who would rather play ball than dance.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a baseball player whose mom wants her to do ballet because baseball is for both. She gets to do both but herself and Mary Ann, who is also on the baseball team are worried that their baseball team is going to make fun of them for doing ballet. They are worried that they are going to look like wimps in front of their baseball team. Throughout the book the main character is constantly dreading going to ballet and does not want to perform in front of everyone. She eventually learns to love both sports.
This was a cute book that did a good job enforcing that girls can play any sport they want and just because you do ballet, it does not mean you are weak. There was not much of a plot but it did resolve itself in the end, it just had a lot of filler that was not needed. Overall, the book was pretty good.
This book could be used for readers in the classroom who do not need to be reading picture books but are not yet ready for chapter books. The book is only 30 pages but it is divided into three chapters, making students feel like they are reading a longer more advanced book. This is also good for girls who are tomboys and want to relate to a character who is also a tomboy.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another one of those great gems I found in my library. I remember reading this in 2nd grade; it was literally one of the first few "chapter books" I learned to read fluently and independently. It's such a cute plot!

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t appreciate the gender stereotyping of baseball vs ballet.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter loved this book. In her words, "She likes 2 different things and she can still do them both even if they're almost opposite".

[Melissa Namba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a huge fan because of the stereotypes, but I do love that her friend embraces baseball and ballet.

[Madeline Feldman]

Baseball Ballerina is a great beginning chapter book for students who are ready to transition out of only pictures books to something more challenging that feels like a more grown up book. The story follows the main character, a young girl, who loves playing baseball. Unfortunately for her, her mother thinks that all girls should dance ballet and is forced to take ballet lessons with her terrible teacher. We watch as she tries to hide her ballet lessons from her baseball teammates and feel for her when she gets jealous of her other friends. She desperately tries to get out of the big performance when she sees the other members of her baseball team in the audience but, to her surprise, their reaction to seeing her on stage is not what she expects. The book is colorful and bright, with a great mix of text and pictures. The pictures support the reader by providing for clues in case the reader gets stuck and the text is clearly laid out with a larger font than is normally seen in chapter books.

I see this book as a great addition to a 2nd or 3rd grade class library. The story is relatable to many children in that sometimes we all struggle or get embarrassed when we have to do something we do not like, or do not want to do. However, the story teaches us that our true friends will be there to support us, no matter what. I think the book would be excellent both as a independent reading text but also as a read aloud with your students. The texts lends itself to predicting and interesting conversation, giving it multiple purposes in the same classroom.

[Amanda Blackwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book a young girl loves to play baseball for her team, the Sharks. Her mom “wants her to do more girl things” so she takes ballet. She is afraid that her teammates on the Sharks will figure out that she takes ballet classes. When she realizes that her ballet class is having a recital and her teammates show up she worries about what they will think.

The author and illustrator are both females and in their book they present different stereotypes that girls should be doing ballet because it is “girly.” This book will appeal to children because it deals with issues that they can relate to. In the book she feels like she cannot play baseball and ballet at the same time because her teammates will make fun of her. She never gives ballet a chance. The illustrations really capture the characters emotions and the characters represent many different races. Children will be able to think about if it is okay to be interested in activities that are considered to be part of their gender stereotypes and activities that challenge their gender stereotypes.

[John Kropewnicki · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a father of a young girl I find this book so frustrating.

Within the first 5 pages, the mother tells the girl that she is not girly enough,
that she needs to wear more pink, and takes her from something that she enjoys and is good at (baseball, she is even the shortstop) and put her in an unfamiliar situation (ballet).

Two girls join ballet, the good blond girl starts to enjoy dance and becomes the prima ballerina in the recital wearing a crown prancing around as a queen.


Also it is so stupid that her baseball team goes to the recital. Because recitals cost money and are incredibly long and boring when your own child is not dancing. There is no way 8 pre-teens are going to sit happily through hours of ballet, jazz, tap dancing.


There is no payoff, the mother never learns that her ideas of what are "girl" things is outdated and harmful and stupid.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book!!! This book takes away gender stereotypes, and allows girls to believe they can do anything they put their minds to. This would be a great read aloud book, or an at home read. This is a great book for a third grade student to read independently as well. The illustrations are fun and encouraging, and although it is a chapter book the vocabulary is not to difficult for a struggling reader. I love that the girl character in the book plays baseball and doesn't want practice dancing.

[Donald · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so happy when I saw this book! The cover and the title were perfect for me, as my 4 year old girl does ballet and t-ball. And the way I read it to her was great! But the way the author wrote is was disappointing. Sentences like, "Mom thinks baseball is for boys.", "She wants me to do more girl things." , and "She says, 'Pink is for girls.'", just made me too sad to read. I still love the cover!

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book a little girl loves baseball but nothing that has to do with 'being a girl' dresses, lace and the color pink! Her mother wants her to be a ballerina so she has to go to lessons although she and her best friend doesn't like it. They both love baseball better and don't want their teammates to know they are in ballet. BUT when one of them become the lead in the program their team come to watch and they are happy for them all.

[Kim Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't like that the mother of this girl makes her do ballet. The young girl likes baseball more, but finds a way to like ballet, which is good and many people dont know they like something untill they try it, i just dont likt the beginning because it makes it sound like the mother doesn't support her daughter doing baseball.

[Cws]

JEAR2-Cri

[Jayda]

It is so good.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this story.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice children's story for girls, with a message that it is ok to be both girlie (a ballerina) and tomboyish (playing baseball).

[Deborah Harris]

RL 2.25 GRL-K

AR Quiz No. 7354 EN Fiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 2.2 - AR Pts: 0.5
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP, RV, VP

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Girls can play baseball and do ballet.

[Lily Nagel]

This book is a fictional children's picture book. It is about a girl who loves playing baseball. Her mom wants her to do more girly things, so she enrolls her into a ballet class. This book was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. I think this book is still great! It would be perfect in a 1st-3rd grade classroom.

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baseball Ballerina is a great beginning reader realistic fiction text. This was my favorite book in elementary school. I dressed up as a baseball ballerina for at least three book character days. The story is about a girl who is, by most, seen as a tomboy. She loves baseball, but decides ballet isn’t so bad. When it comes time for the recital, she is worried that her team will see her dance and make fun of her for it. The illustrations go well with the words, it is a great first chapter book for a young reader. I think there is a lot for children to think about while they are reading, she addresses a lot of different emotions as the story unfolds. There is not as much diversity depicted in the story as there could be, but overall a strong text with a plot that is easy for young readers to follow.