Ella Bella loved her ballet lessons with Madame Rosa, at the Old Theater. She particularly loved it when the pupils were allowed to dance about to the music from Miss Rosa's beautiful music box. Staying after class one day, Ella Bella listens once again to her teacher's music box, which is playing the music from The Sleeping Beauty, and suddenly the Lilac Fairy appears and escorts her into the world of the fairy-tale ballet...

The first of six picture-book from British author/illustrator James Mayhew devoted to the magical ballet-related adventures of this little ballerina, Ella Bella Ballerina and The Sleeping Beauty is the fifth that I have read. Once upon a time I was scrupulous about reading series in order, but these days, especially with picture-books, I go more with what's available to me. I found this to be quite a sweet book, pairing an engaging and magical story with appealing artwork. I think this entire series makes a wonderful introduction to the stories to be found in famous ballets, and would pair very nicely with other series, such as the Tallulah books (Tallulah's Tutu, etc.), which chronicle the actual dance-related experiences of a young ballet pupil. Recommended to young would-be ballerinas and ballet lovers. ( )

Ella Bella Ballerina and The Sleeping Beauty takes a unique approach to fairy tales by telling a story within a story, or as I phrased in the tags, bookception. The main character of this story, Ella Bella, very badly wants to hear the story of Sleeping Beauty when her ballet teacher has her dance to a song from the ballet, but class ends all too soon. Unsatisfied, Ella Bella goes over to the music box that had been playing the song and a magical blue fairy appears to take her on an adventure that tells the tale of Sleeping Beauty.
I found this approach to story telling to be very interesting. Ella Bella sort of had an 'every man' role in this book, making it easier for children to see themselves in the story and empathize with the characters. By placing the audience in the story, the author also has the opportunity to address the audience without fully breaking the forth wall. This briefly allowed the author to explain a little bit of the history of Sleeping Beauty via the ballet instructor before providing a longer history in the back of the book. I particularly enjoyed learning the history. ( )