This story of overcoming adversity will touch adults and children alike. When there is a calamity at the Royal Ballet, Biff is able to realise his dream. It is a sophisticated story with sophisticated language including some French ballet terms which my class found inexplicably, but amusingly, funny when I read the story aloud! This story is a nice introduction to the idea of challenging stereotypes by asking children to consider how they would feel if they were told that they were not allowed to so something that they love just because other people thought they weren’t supposed to do it. He looks longingly as his owner as she puts on her tutu ready for her ballet classes, dreaming of one day seeing his name in lights, but of course everyone knows that “dogs don’t do ballet”, or do they? I’ve read a couple of children’s story books by the same publisher (Simon and Schuster) and these are common features which they execute really well.īiff is a pug who longs to be a ballerina. The pages are tactile the paper has a lovely feel it making the book a pleasure to handle before even getting to the story. On the back cover, the blurb is written with the young reader in mind and will entice them from the get go, describing the story as “A fabulous feel-good book about a small dog with a big personality and even bigger dreams”. The artwork, not only on the cover but throughout the book, consists of extremely well observed, beautifully hand-drawn illustrations in a vintage style.

As soon as I saw this book I knew I was going to like it! It is said that you should never judge a book by its cover but when choosing children’s books the cover often tells you so much and plays a great part in the young reader’s selection.

Dogs Don't Do Ballet by Anna Kemp