Ella Okstad’s Ballerina Dreams!

Stunningly and sensitively illustrated by the fabulous Ella Okstad, ‘Ballerina Dreams’ is the adorable younger-reader edition of Michaela DePrince's highly moving memoir of her journey from a lonely child in an orphanage in Sierra Leone to principle dancer for the Dutch National Ballet. Ella says: “When presented with Ballerina Dreams, I was very moved by it. In the beginning, I must admit I was slightly nervous about drawing real life people as they grow up using my own style, but the response I had was utterly positive! I was given a pdf document with lots of family photos to help me to get hair styles, clothes and particularly the ballet postures and movements right. I wanted to depict Michaela just as strong and determined as she is in the story and photos. When the advance copies came, Elaine DePrince wrote me a message to let me know how pleased they both were!”   Ella’s always joyful illustrations perfectly express the love, dedication and hope that drove DePrince to achieve her dreams. Each page of this unique autobiography is bursting with her signature warmth and exudes a gentle and endearing humour whilst simultaneously capturing the vibrant movement of the tiny ballerinas twirling and balancing on tiptoes! Sure to have you dancing for joy, Ballerina Dreams is out this month from Faber, get your copy here:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/057132973X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=057132973X&linkCode=as2&tag=toia-21