STARRING PRIMA!

Born in a grand piano, at the Ballet Jolie in New York City, Prima’s first words are, “I’m born to dance,” and indeed, she becomes a ballet star. She’s a mischievous and daring mouse and it gets her into trouble on the one hand and enables her to make friends with Kristen, a ten-year-old human, on the other. Their adventures together include accompanying Kristen’s mother, a star ballerina, to Paris, where Prima falls in love with the star ballet dancer, Abelard. She marries and remains at the ballet, where her grandmother had taught years ago. When her friend returns to Paris, she meets Prima’s daughter, who has stayed to welcome her and tell her of Prima’s passing. Various characters (Kristen’s new kitten, Prima’s loving and talented family) help make this a rollicking adventure, but numerous asides alluding to human and mouse foibles and an elaborate history of the mouse family are often distracting as they interrupt the storyline and break up the narrative flow. Black-and-white cartoon drawings are as whimsical as the adventures. A reasonably enjoyable read-aloud, especially to those who were Angelina Ballerina devotees when they were younger. (Fiction. 6-9)