Review Detail

ANGELINA, STAR OF THE SHOW is a cute picture book about enthusiasm and making mistakes. Angelina is on the way to the Mouseland Dance Festival with her grandparents, but the trip will take several days by boat - and it's all hands on deck! However, Angelina is determined to be the star of the show, so she works on her dance routines instead of helping out as she is supposed to, even when her grandparents start to get irritated and she keeps making messes. It isn't until she accidentally ruins her lovely costume that Angelina begins to realize that she needs to get more serious about helping. 

Her grandmother comforts her and helps her to find a new costume on board, and Angelina turns over a new leaf with helping the way she was supposed to - and learning some new dances from her grandmother. When they arrive at the festival, Angelina shows off her new moves, and the crowd loves her performance.

What I loved: This is a great story for children who have a tough time focusing on being good helpers. Angelina knows that she needs to help out on the boat to get to the festival, but she is so focused on creating a new dance routine that she is not paying attention to her grandparents and the other things that she is supposed to be doing. This is a common situation for children, so the story will resonate quite well, especially with the natural consequence of Angelina ruining her own dance costume.

Angelina does turn it all around, helping out after that - and what she learns is that in doing so, she can actually create a better dance as she frees up some of her grandmother's time to teach her new dances. The length of the story will work best for older picture book readers, such as those in elementary school. Like other Angelina stories, the text is long and detailed, really painting the details well for the reader. The images are likewise lovely and detailed with plenty to visually explore on each page, soft colors, and lots of personality.

What left me wanting more: As a small thing, the lessons learned are a bit subtle, so it may have been helpful to have more warnings or have them pointed out a bit clearer for the reader.

Final verdict: ANGELINA, STAR OF THE SHOW is a fun new Angelina Ballerina story that is sure to resonate with busy young readers who need reminders to be good helpers too!