The Cranky Ballerina by Elise Gravel (review)

Picturebookland is full of devoted frilly girls in ballet shoes, but Ada hates everything to do with her Saturday ballet class. When Miss Pointy instructs Ada to pirouette, the result is havoc, and in the chaos Ada tumbles into the hallway, crashing into another teacher. Her victim turns out to be a karate teacher who thinks Ada’s antiballet moves are actually “great karate” and invites Ada to join his class, which is a much better fit for Ada. The plot logic is a little thin, but that’s okay; the point is comedically grumpy Ada’s mismatch with ballet and eventual finding of her niche. Gravel lays out humorously the kid who hates everything about what they’re stuck with (Ada loathes the day, the clothes, the car trip), so even ballet-loving kids will get the gist. Speech balloons offer Ada’s fellow students a chance to comment (“She stinks”), and more importantly give voice to Ada’s stuffed animal/sidekick, a chartreuse blob with bunny ears who functions as Greek chorus and cheering section. The art, Gravel’s usual limited palette with neo-retro tones of cherry, lime, and slate predominating, has both absurdity and solidity, and Ada’s disasters are satisfyingly, slapstickily disastrous, with sound effects and flying dancers pelting around the spread. This may spark ideas in audience members who are grumpily going through the motions of an activity they’d like to escape.