I Vant To Dance! Vampirina Ballerina by Anna Marie Pace

It's not easy finding dance classes that fit a night-flying little vampire's schedule, but little Vampirina finally locates a ballet night school that opens by moonlight.

The black practice leotard and tights are her color, but her gauzy cape definitely sets her apart among her pink-preferring partners. Vamparina also hits another snag: it's hard to perfect your plie' pose when you can't see yourself in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors. But our little vampirette, fangs and all, perseveres and looks to be a natural en pointe!

Vampirina gives la danse an all-out Gothic go, building her skills until she is ready for the big recital reveal. Vampirina in her spider-webby costume is a "breathtaking" sight, all right, but when the rest of the corps de ballet suffers an attack of total performance anxiety, Vampirina is primed to take the lead by her family's' support... with just one piece of parental prompting:

"EVEN THOUGH IT WOULD MAKE YOUR GRAND JETE' MOST IMPRESSIVE, RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO TURN INTO A BAT!"

Self-billed author "Countess" Anna Marie Pace and artist "Mistress-of-the-Night" Leuyen Pham combine their dark arts happily in their brand-new Vampirina Ballerina (Hyperion, 2012), which ends in a delightful four-page gatefold which opens to show the entire corps de ballet receiving their "Bravas" after the final tour jete'. A tale for the upcoming scary season which will please young dancers and would-be ballerinas any time.

"The underlying messages are familiar: there are no shortcuts to achieving an ambitious dream, and persistence and a sunny outlook (even when one is a creature of the night) pay off. But seldom have these lessons been expounded with so much charm," says Publisher's Weekly.