Favorite Ballet Picture Books

I have a three-year-old daughter who loves all things ballet the last year. We have been reading many sweet and beautiful ballet books and I wanted to share the titles for any other mamas that have ballet-loving girls!

James Mayhew is a wonderful author and illustrator. I knew about his art books that follow a little girl named Kate as she magically enters into many different masterpieces (Katie and the Starry Night, Katie Meets the Impressionists), but didn't realize he also had a few picture books based on well-known ballets. These two tell simplified adaptations of Cinderella and Swan Lake that are easy enough for toddlers and preschoolers to follow along. 

My girl loves all the Flora books by Molly Idle, but this is her favorite. Flora, all decked out in her vintage bathing suit and cap imitates a flamingo who seems to be doing some ballet moves. Both of my children loved getting up and imitating the pair as we read this book. It is a wordless book, so I make up a little dialogue and story as I go, which is easy to do because the darling illustrations are so expressive.

My children LOVE the Angelina Ballerina books! We keep finding new ones at the library. For Christmas, my daughter even received an Angelina Ballerina Tonie for her TonieBox that has several of the stories and an Angelina Ballerina stuffy, which was harder to find than I expected since they don't make them anymore (thanks Ebay!). The books follow Angelina, a ballet-loving mouse and her many adventures. She often gets herself into a scrape, but always finds a creative way out, and does it fashionably with some ballet in the mix. 

We all LOVE The Story Orchestra's collection. We own all of them, but these specific ones are dedicated to ballets. The simplified adaptation of the ballets are easy to follow, and the short clips of music that plays when the kids press the buttons brings the ballet to life. 

These three books are requested on repeat by my toddler. She loves following along Bea at her ballet lesson in Bea at Ballet and the very simplified retelling of The Nutcracker. She also loves Jake at Gymnastics, which is about a typical day in a toddler gymnastics class. These are great for babies all the way up to preschool.

I love Julie Merberg's art board books (A Picnic with Monet, In the Garden with Van Gogh), but this one is the favorite because it showcases Degas' famous ballet paintings. 

Does your little one enjoy ballet? Do you have any favorite ballet picture books you think my daughter would enjoy? Please share in comments!