Sadie the Ballerina

Susan Kemp is an instructor at the Queen’s School of English,
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario.

Joan Betty Stuchner took ballet lessons as a little girl and even danced
on the stage of a real theatre. She now lives in Vancouver and goes to
the ballet whenever she can. Bruno St-Aubin always wanted to be a
painter and is now a full-time illustrator in Montreal. Similarly,
Sadie, our young protagonist, really wants to be a ballerina, and no
matter how many times she trips and falls over while practising at home,
she is determined not to give up. Her mother, however, is not convinced
that Sadie is a suitable candidate for ballet lessons, and suggests
clown school instead. What Sadie does when she goes to see the National
Ballet perform The Nutcracker changes her mother’s mind: the little
dancer jumps out on the stage and is then swept up by a fast-thinking
Sugar Plum Fairy.

This delightfully told story, with beautiful watercolour illustrations,
demonstrates that if you want things badly enough they will happen—a
little perseverance and an indomitable spirit can accomplish wonderful
things. Recommended.