{"id":44325,"date":"2024-09-28T22:51:50","date_gmt":"2024-09-29T02:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=44325"},"modified":"2024-09-28T22:51:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-29T02:51:50","slug":"review-of-brown-girls-do-ballet-by-takiyah-wallace-mcmillian-words-by-janay-brown-wood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=44325","title":{"rendered":"Review of Brown Girls Do Ballet, by TaKiyah Wallace-McMillian, words by JaNay Brown-Wood"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Brown Girls Do Ballet<\/em><\/p>\n

Celebrating Diverse Girls Taking Center Stage<\/p>\n

by TaKiyah Wallace-McMillan
\nwords by JaNay Brown-Wood<\/p>\n

Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2024. 40 pages.
\nReview written September 26, 2024, from a library book
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

This picture book is about the photographs, and that is reflected in the cover, where the photographer is listed first and as the main creator.<\/p>\n

And the photographs are pictures of brown girls doing ballet, exactly as the title says. And they are stunning! We’ve got big girls and small girls, lighter-skinned and darker-skinned girls, beginners and proficient ballerinas, even a disabled girl in and out of her wheelchair. Some of the girls are actively dancing, others are hanging out with friends in their dance gear.<\/p>\n

The text that goes along with the photographs is affirming, and specifically addressed to Brown Girls.<\/p>\n

Here’s a sample:<\/p>\n

Brown Girl, b e n d —
\nyour knees, elbows, neck – and send
\nawe through each of them so blessed
\nto witness you in motion,<\/p>\n

the vibrance of your beauty
\nas it glows and grows and flows<\/p>\n

from the top of your poised crown to
\nthe tip of pointed toe.<\/p>\n

Do you even know<\/em> the power
\nthat you hold?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So I enjoy this book because of looking at the pictures of beautiful girls, joyful and dancing. I’ve read more than one testimony of a brown ballerina that they began dreaming of dance when they saw a dancer who looked like them. This book brings that experience to many more girls and strongly affirms that they belong. And it’s beautiful to see.<\/p>\n

browngirlsdoballet.com<\/a>
\nblackdogandleventhal.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Picture_Books\/brown_girls_do_ballet.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

What did you think of this book?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brown Girls Do Ballet Celebrating Diverse Girls Taking Center Stage by TaKiyah Wallace-McMillan words by JaNay Brown-Wood Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2024. 40 pages. Review written September 26, 2024, from a library book Starred Review This picture book is about the photographs, and that is reflected in the cover, where the photographer is listed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,399,15,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contemporary","category-photography","category-picture-book-review","category-starred-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44325"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44339,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44325\/revisions\/44339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}