ANGELINA AND THE PRINCESS
From the Angelina Ballerina series
by Katharine Holabird ; illustrated by Helen Craig
Angelina the winsome mouse ballerina, who debuted auspiciously last year, here encounters the perils of the performing life. On the day of tryouts for a special Royal Performance, she sneaks off with her ballet bag unbeknownst to her mother—busy in the kitchen of their thatched English snuggery (while a mouse Pierrot, one of many visual grace-notes, slumps mournfully at the window). But once on stage she gets dizzy and falls—and the leading roles in the Dance of the Flower Fairies go to Flora and Felicity. Mama is reproachful, then consoling, then affirmative: "You can still do your best with whatever part you are given, and that will help the whole performance." Angelina not only learns her own part, she memorizes the Dance of the Flower Fairies—and when Flora sprains her ankle the day of the Royal Performance, who do you think…? But this is a kindly story, so Flora gets to sit right next to the Princess of Mouseland—whom she eyes worshipfully, while all other eyes are on the stage. Like its predecessor, this is a dainty, even delectable-looking book without the least preciousness. If Holabird can continue to come up with empathic roles for Angelina, the series should have a devoted following. (Picture book. 4-8)