As a digital subscriber, you’ll receive unlimited access to Horn Book web exclusives and extensive archives, as well as access to our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database.
To access other site content, visit The Horn Book homepage.
To continue you need an active subscription to hbook.com.
Subscribe now to gain immediate access to everything hbook.com has to offer, as well as our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database, which contains tens of thousands of short, critical reviews of books published in the United States for young people.
Thank you for registering. To have the latest stories delivered to your inbox, select as many free newsletters as you like below.
No thanks. Return to article
Ready to Fly: How Sylvia Townsend Became the Bookmobile Ballerina
40 pp.
| HarperCollins/Harper |
January, 2020 |
TradeISBN 978-0-06-288878-5$18.99
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Jessica Gibson.
Foreword by Sylvia Townsend. In chipper first-person text ("As musical notes start to float, I rise to my toes"), the authors describe African American ballet dancer Sylvia Townsend's childhood. Although her parents couldn't afford lessons (and segregation meant that ballet school was "for white girls" only), Townsend turned to the town bookmobile to teach herself and others. The digital illustrations are somewhat generic but bright and cheerful. Reading list, timeline. Bib.