Angelina Ballerina Story Collection - Audio Book CD
Brand New
: abridged 1 CDs 50 minutes
Angelina Ballerina Story Collection - AudioBook CDFrom the popular book Angelina Ballerina comes the audiobook:a
little star with big dreams.Angelina is a pretty little mouse who wants more than anything else to
become a ballerina. Angelina dances all the time - even when she is supposed to be doing chores
or getting ready for school. Her parents are in despair. Then one day they
think of a plan that changes Angelina's life and makes her the happiest mouse
in the world.Track Listing:
- Angelina Ballerina
- Angelina and the Princess
- Angelina and Henry
- Angelina's Baby Sister
- Angelina's Birthday
- Angelina and Alice
- Angelina at the Fai
- Angelina's Halloween
- Angelina's Christmas
- Angelina Ice Skates
About the Author Katharine Holabird
Katharine Holabird is a favourite children's author whose many Angelina
books have delighted children and their parents around the world.
Katharine Holabird grew up in Chicago at a time when
“TV hadn’t become a fixture in every home, and we created our own imaginative
world”. The second of four daughters, she loved to dress up and dance with her
sisters, pretending to be beautiful ballerinas. Annual invitations to the
ballet with her grandmother made a deep impression. “It was thrilling to see
real performances of Cinderella, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.” Katherine
remembers, “I was absolutely spellbound.” Katharine was also an avid reader
with a particular liking for tales of heroic animals and equally courageous
children. “I loved the secret world of books,” says Katharine, “and was
delighted to discover I could create characters and worlds of my own.”While studying literature at Bennington College in Vermont, Katharine was
encouraged by her professor, “Write,” they said, “Just keep writing and don’t
give up.” After graduating, she worked as a literary editor for a year. Then
she traveled to Italy on a holiday, and made an impulsive decision to stay in
Rome and learn Italian. In Rome she began working for the movie industry
magazine Variety. “The pay was awful,” Katharine remembers, “but it was
a great apprenticeship. I visited movie locations, interviewed actors like Dirk
Bogarde and Marcello Mastroanni, and wrote at length. What a shock when my
glorious text was edited down to nothing and I had to rewrite every word. I’ve
never forgotten what I learned at Variety – always be prepared to
rewrite.”
In 1974, Katharine married and moved to London, where she found work as a
nursery school teacher. The young schoolchildren gave Katharine “a wonderful
introduction to London”, along with classic English children’s books such as Alfie and The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Teaching boisterous children in
London was the perfect prelude to the birth of Katharine’s first daughter in
1976.Katharine was the mother of two young daughters when, with artist Helen
Craig, she created Angelina Ballerina in 1982. “My little girls and their
friends reminded me of my childhood enthusiasm for dance. They were completely
mad about ballet, and I was struck by the daily drama of their lives, both in
and out of ballet classes. The courage and determination it takes to be a small
performer impressed me, as did all the emotional upheavals that take place
behind the scenes. Whispered secrets, disappointment and jealousy, stage fright
and tears while yearning to be a little star, are all part and parcel of a
theatrical child’s everyday life. I wanted to write something especially for all
the passionate little dancers and performers in the world, and decided to
explore the impulsive, highly emotional character of a small but determined
ballerina.”When she first wrote about Angelina, Katherine envisaged her character as a
little girl, but when artist Helen Craig showed her the first drawings of
Angelina as a mouse, it worked perfectly. “The impulsive character of Angelina
came alive,” says Katharine, “and seemed to pirouette off the page with
enthusiasm and energy, while her plump and ebullient body expressed drama and
attitude in every twitch of her tail.
The award-winning Angelina Ballerina books are a great way for
children to explore important issues such as friendship, rivalry, loyalty and
dedication. “Angelina’s experiences are pretty universal,” Katharine says, “and
I think children like to read about someone who can lose her temper and then
struggles to get over it and apologize. They certainly know how Angelina feels!
After all, most children don’t find growing up particularly easy, and there’s
not much point in a pretty picture book that doesn’t reflect the emotional
issues they’re dealing with everyday.”Katharine writes from a room in her London home, with a view of trees, birds
and sky. “When my children were young, writing time was precious, so I mostly
wrote during school hours and after their bedtime (although I remember constant
interruptions and hot little fists rapping on the door).” Now that Katharine’s
three children are grown up, she has more leisure to write. Nevertheless, it’s
important to her to remain in close touch with young people. “There’s an awful
lot going on when children play together, and I guess it’s the mixture of comedy
and tragedy on the mini-stage of childhood that still fascinates me.”
The Angelina Ballerina books have been translated into 6 languages.
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