Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Starring Prima! by Jacquelyn Mitchard - Available

Starring Prima!

The Mouse of the Ballet Jolie

by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Jacquelyn Mitchard
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
From the day she was born in the piano backstage at the Ballet Jolie, it was obvious that Prima was destined for greatness. Her family fully expects her to become the lead dancer with the American Ballet Rodente. Such an honor should be enough for any mouselet, but Prima has even bigger plans. She won't be satisfied until she can share her talent with all creatures - even humans. Now, as any mouse with half a brain knows, the last thing you want to do around a human is to draw attention to yourself, but will that stop Prima? Not on your tutu!

Jacquelyn Mitchard brings to her first novel for young readers the same eye for detail, ear for dialogue and affection for characters that made The Deep End of the Ocean and Twelve Times Blessed bestsellers.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    July 27, 2004

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780060782719
      • File size: 76645 KB
      • Duration: 02:39:40

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • ATOS Level: 5.8
    • Interest Level: 4-8(MG)
    • Text Difficulty: 3-5

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Prima, the mouse dancer, may remind you of Angelina Ballerina in terms of her grace and talent, but the scope of this story is more like that of STUART LITTLE. Novelist Mitchard delves deeply into mouse history and customs, introducing us to many of Prima's ancestors before leading up to her triumph on stage. Mitchard reads her own work with gusto and pleasure. Though her pronounced Midwestern accent and her tendency to pause slightly to admire her own puns are a bit distracting at times, Mitchard so clearly enjoys herself reading this tale that it's likely most children will enjoy it, too. J.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 7, 2004
      Mitchard (author of the adult bestseller The Deep End of the Ocean
      ) turns out a flimsy, often sluggish novel about a mouse who is born in a piano, backstage at New York's Ballet Jolie, and who opens her eyes just as a prima ballerina performs onstage. "Prima!... That is who I am. I will be the principal dancer of the Ballet Rodente," announces the mouse. She successfully debuts in the title role in "Whiskerella," performed on an overturned milk crate, yet Prima aspires to dance for human as well as mouse audiences. After her parents punish her for making a surprise appearance in a human ballet performance, the determined dancer's luck changes. She meets Kristen, nine-year-old daughter of the ballerina after whom Prima named herself (they have no trouble talking, Mitchard explains, "as all children can understand most animal languages"). Prima moves into Kristen's posh apartment, where the tiny ballerina happily performs on the stage of a puppet theater. A trip to Paris brings love for Prima, and Kristen returns to America without her. The unabashedly sentimental ending takes Kristen back to Paris to learn that Prima has gone "to the stars," yet she shepherds the mouse's daughter, another aspiring ballerina, home to New York, to raise her own mouse children in Kristen's piano. Mitchard conveys the bond between Prima and her human pal, but inane word play, coy exposition and protracted dialogue will likely turn off even balletomanes. Ages 8-up.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 11, 2004
      With a bright and generally cheery reading sparked with an occasional hint of sarcasm, bestselling author Mitchard (writing her first children's novel) invites listeners backstage to meet the mice of the Ballet Jolie, which performs in special theater nooks and crannies in New York City. Descended from a great French mouse ballerina, young Prima appears destined to be a star of the dance. Prima's dark coloring, exceptionally long legs and pink paws "as delicate as the sugar roses on a birthday cake" presumably mark her for greatness. But Prima has the self-confidence and ambition to surpass her natural gifts—she wants to do the unthinkable: perform for human people. When she's punished for sneaking onstage during a performance for humans, Prima's career changes course. She meets up with a young human named Kristen and finds her way to a New York apartment and eventually to Paris, where she also finds romance. Amusing mouse and place names—e.g., the Mezzanina and Snacketta families, Whiskerella
      —help create a parallel dance world that aspiring ballerinas can appreciate (though some older listeners may find it cloying). Ages 8-10. (June).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5.8
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:3-5

Loading