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dsued
Posted July 2, 2011
Great nonfiction book for children!
Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring, the Orbis Pictus 2011 winner written by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan and illustrated by Brian Floca, is a children's picture book about the collaboration of Martha Graham: trailblazing choreographer, Aaron Copeland: distinguished American composer, and Isamu Noguchi: artist, sculptor and craftsman to produce the American masterpiece ballet, Appalachian Spring. "Together they created a ballet about a new home, a new family, a new life - a dance about America." Beautiful watercolor pictures bring the story to life and convey the beauty of the story behind the ballet. The illustrations are simple but effective and the colors are very "spring like" throughout. This book would be useful in a classroom to teach how a theatrical production comes to fruition and also about life in Appalachia in the 1800's. This book could inspire students to learn more about both aforementioned topics and to explore other books about collaborations between other artists. It could also lead to a student wanting to read more about the lives and careers of Martha Graham, Aaron Copeland, and Isamu Noguchi. This book also has biographical information about the aforementioned artists and has an extensive bibliography. This book appeals to a wide range of readers and could be read well by even second graders, in my opinion. Visually stimulating and highly informative, but in a nontechnical format, it is a delightful book to read.
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victoria23VT
Posted May 23, 2011
Highly Recommend!!!
The collaboration of the different artists is told beautifully in Ballet for Martha. Even when the artists' ideas are different from each others' they work hard to make the performance work. The story show how hard work and determination would be rewarded. Martha is determined to let her version to come to life and her hard work pays off in the end. The illustrations capture the dancers' movement perfectly.
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