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Written by Renée M. LaTulippe
Illustrated by Cécile Metzger
Publisher: Cameron Kids
Publication Date: March 8, 2022
ISBN-13: 978-1951836368
ISBN-10: 1951836367

Available everywhere!

the crab ballet

Welcome. Enter. Sit right there
upon our finest driftwood chair.
Enjoy our sunset seaside show—
our dancers are beyond compare.

The Crab Ballet is a sunset seaside show starring the dancing crab divas and their aquatic corps de ballet. A fantastical rhyming text ushers readers through one sea-foam-dreamy act after another, from a gentle seahorse pas de deux to dramatic dolphin leaps beyond the spray.

Gorgeously illustrated in sea-washed watercolors by Cécile Metzger, The Crab Ballet is a two-act spectacular full of sea, salt, sand, and French ballet terms. Mais oui!

FREE ACTIVITY PACK!

Download the Crab Ballet Activity Pack to give your little ones some extra deep-see fun! The pack contains:

• coloring pages
• connect-the-dots
• mazes
• matching games
• hide-and-seek crabs
• counting game
• word search
• crossword puzzle

reviews

GOODREADS REVIEWS

Teresa Robeson
Teresa Robeson
author of Queen of Physics
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It’s pure magic! Renée LaTulippe’s language is so beautiful and evocative that you can practically feel the ocean spray, taste the salt on your lips, and hear the music that accompanies the cavorting title crabs.
Rebecca Gardyn Levington
Rebecca Gardyn Levington
author of Brainstorm!
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The author has incredible writing skills, choosing a rhyme scheme that is not only unusual for picture books, but extremely difficult to pull off, and yet she does it brilliantly. AND she even rhymes in FRENCH!
Carrie Finison
Carrie Finison
author of Dozens of Doughnuts
Read More
I love how evocative the text is of this undersea feast for the eyes! Aside from the fact that the unusual rhyme scheme (AABA) delights my soul, and it’s peppered with ballet terms (of course), it’s just so darn FUN to read. And Cécile Metzger’s delicate and detailed illustrations are as mesmerizing as staring into a sun-rippled tide pool. Put together, the book sweeps you into its underwater world and makes me want to linger there a little longer each time I read it.
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KIRKUS

A fun introduction to ballet that will also inspire an appreciation for marine life.

A whimsical ballet never before seen above water!

“The stage is set: a sleek, wet glow—Shhh! The dancers take the floor.” Act 1 introduces anemones, squids, turtles, and seahorses as they open the performance of “this gleaming sea ballet” with “an elegant marine routine” complete with swaying, gliding, and spiraling. Then, the corps dancers—tiny crabs—take center stage, scampering, pirouetting, skipping, and soaring. After a grand intermission, Act 2 begins: starfish (“star performers”) dance in formation, with sunbeams for spotlights. As twilight falls, farther out in the ocean, dolphins breach the surface in a dainty dance duet as, under the sea, the aquatic ensemble perform their final encore. Enhanced by poetry in rhyme, this spectacular ocean ballet fairly sings when read aloud; however, the very small font is hard on the eyes. LaTulippe weaves plenty of French and English ballet terms (pas de chat, arabesque, fifth position, etc.) into the text and defines them in a skillfully child-friendly closing glossary. Metzger’s delicate watercolor illustrations use a palette dominated by the trademark elegant pinks of ballet costumes and have all the softness of ballerina tulle.

MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

Beautiful, original, entertaining, “The Crab Ballet” is certain to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and picture book collections for children ages 4-8. It should be noted for the personal reading lists for readers with an interest in Children’s Dance Books, Children’s Marine Life Books, and Children’s Friendship Books, that “The Crab Ballet” is also available in a digital book format for Kindle.

DENTON RECORD-CHRONICLE

It is a pleasure to find a delightful book that is original and captivating in its presentation. The reader enters the venue, the beautiful seaside at sunset, and settles in for The Crab Ballet. The inhabitants of the ocean perform a ballet, told in rhyme with all of the vocabulary of the ballet woven into the text. The lovely pastel illustrations enhance the story being told, being light and flowing in movement. The book ends with a glossary of the ballet terms. So many young children take ballet classes, and this would be a perfect recital gift rather than the standard rose! –Jean Greenlaw

press

Click on the link, image, or video to read or listen!

BLOG INTERVIEWS

Susanna Hill @ TUESDAY DEBUT

Extensive info about journey to publication

 

Kim Norman @ PICTURE BOOK BUILDERS

Includes look into revision process

 

Maria Marshall @ THE PICTURE BOOK BUZZ

Inspiration behind and the writing of CRAB BALLET

 

Maria Marshall @ PERFECT PICTURE BOOK FRIDAY

Info for teachers and parents

 

Jena Benton @ SIMPLY 7

CRAB idea, marketing, advice for writers

 

Sylvia & Elaine @ KIDLIT411 AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

Getting started as a writer, CRAB idea

 

Laura @ LAURA ROETTIGER BOOKS

Fun personal interview

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