I just bought this book for my grandchild and was so happy that he enjoyed it as much as myself. I am from South Africa, and was glad to find a book that showed the joy and sweetness of that country. People around the world forget that there are little children that go to sleep everynight all over S.A. and just live simple lives. The pictures were realistic and lovely and made me homesick! I think this gives my grandchild a wonderful view of an incredible country and they have brought back memories for me. Thank You

Willaby is all girl. She loves the same things many little girls in the first grade like, including her teacher Miss Finney. But when her passion for drawing accidentally prevents her from expressing affection for her favorite teacher, poor Willaby is heartbroken. Though she tries to make amends, Willaby finds that she can't escape her guilt, until Miss Finney thanks her in a very special way.
I really loved this story. I know I've heard of Rachel Isadora before and it's no wonder. She has poured her heart into a beautiful character with a heart of gold. Willaby is the everyday angel that all children want to be. She is the innocence we find in every child. And Isadora does a beautiful job of bringing her to life both in a warm plot and in amusing illustrations.
I shared this book with 16 preschool children. They enjoyed it thoroughly and even giggled at the part about drawing on the wall. Willaby is a familiar friend to most children because she represents the feelings many of them have for a teacher. Though I recommend this book for anyone who wants a charming simple story, I prescribe it to every child who finds fascination in drawing, even on the desk at school.

At the Crossroads by Rachel Isadora is a made-up story. It is about kids waiting for their fathers to come home. They waited a long time. I think that this story is really cool and that other kids will like it. I liked the pictures a lot, except the one where the moon was orange.

Wow! My family is from South Africa and we were thrilled when we found this book at our local bookstore. It is sooo true to life and so uplifting. It brought back all the memories we have of our home and even the colors brought back memories. I am sorry we had to leave S. Africa and I am happy that Rachel Isadora could bring back the sights, sounds and smells. I hope that by understanding the terrible situation of apartheid the country will become a better place and all the people can live together. I hope my children will understand all this someday! Thank you for such a wonderful book.....

A wonderful book telling of the warmth and love, not only in a family, but in a whole community. Eagerly awaiting the return of their fathers the children prepare a joyous welcome. Filled with rich, beautiful colors "At the Crossroads" tells a story of the love children have for their fathers, even though they may seldom see them. I felt that this really spoke of how those still at home kept the fathers 'alive' for the children. This is a wonderful book for children to see how other children live and how happy they can be with, what we would consider, so little. I use this book every year with our unit on Families.

This Rudolf Nureyev production of "Swan Lake" was first staged for the Vienna State Opera Ballet in 1964. It was made into a film in 1967, and it is now available on video. On page 225 of the biography "Perpetual Motion: The Public and Private Lives of Rudolf Nureyev" (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995), Otis Stuart describes this Nureyev production as "dense, psychologically complicated" and also as "unilaterally despised by the local critics and public." Generally speaking, I like Nureyev's dancing. I really enjoy Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn together in The Royal Ballet's "Romeo and Juliet" (1966). Nureyev's character came off very credible to me. In Nureyev's private life, I'm aware that he lived an alternate lifestyle. That would not be my choice, but it does not necessarily preclude me from enjoying a ballet that he dances in. Nevertheless, I have trouble in seeing the value behind Nureyev's outrageously effeminate portrayal of Prince Siegfried in this production. I suspect that might be a big part of why this performance did not achieve critical and public acclaim in the sixties.

There is, however, some merit to be found in Nureyev's choreography. Many of the swan formations are interesting. There is some good detail in the dancing when Prince Siegfried first meets Odette. When Odile does her famous 32 fouttes in Act III, the camera changes angles a couple of times to give you different views. I've learned not to take things like that for granted, as I've seen other quality productions who will just stay with the one view for the entire time. A libretto is provided, in case you do not already know the story. The video run time is 112 minutes, whereas a Kirov production is 144 minutes long. That means that Nureyev had to edit out some of the lessor known dances. Nureyev did not like the Joker in the Kirov version, because he felt it was not in keeping with the overall character of the ballet. So, he edited it out along with Prince Siegfried's friend Benno. He also changed the name of the evil sorcerer from von Rotbart to Redbeard.

The ballet music was written by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The score is beautiful, but the performance by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra is mediocre compared to other performances I've seen by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra and the New York City Ballet Orchestra. Also, it is important to consider the fact that this was recorded in 1967. The recording technology back then is not what it is today.

I am afraid that many people will buy this video because of the name attraction of Fonteyn and Nureyev. Quite frankly, I think that they are making a mistake, especially if this is to be the only "Swan Lake" in their collection. If you desire to own all of the available "Swan Lake" editions, then by all means buy this one. But, remember that Dame Margot Fonteyn was born in 1919, and her technical skills in 1967 are not up to par with today's dancers. Furthermore, there are a number of dances that are not done by the principal dancers, and the Vienna corps is simply not all that great. For instance, during the dance of the four Cygnets, you can see that their heads are not in sync. I invite a comparison with The Kirov Ballet.

One good thing about this production is that the ending is more true to the actual story than a typical Kirov version. This is because the Tsar did not allow for certain types of endings in his theater. The Soviets also maintained that tradition. Nureyev was known to have despised the Kirov ending, and therefore he discarded it. His ending is also quite theatrical and involves stage props. That might not sit well with some purist types. Also, the sorcerer Redbeard is primarily an actor. He doesn't even wear ballet slippers because he doesn't dance. He just goes around appearing menacing and stirring up the swans and casting spells and such. By comparison, the Kirov version features a dancing von Rotbart. The actual name of the sorcerer, and whether he is theatrical or not, doesn't matter all that much to me. But, you can make your own decisions as to what you value in a performance, so I'm just letting you know.

Out of the five "Swan Lake" versions that I have seen (to date), my favorite is a Peter Martins after George Balanchine after Petipa & Ivanov production from the "Live From Lincoln Center" public television series. It features innovative choreography, great dancing and an absolutely stunning ending! Peter Martin's production is my idea of a five-star "Swan Lake." Unfortunately, it is not available commercially. As an alternative, I recommend the Kirov "Swan Lake" production (ASIN 6304185529 by Kultur Video) as a reasonable, quality substitute that can be purchased through Amazon.com. In any case, please be sure to fully research the other "Swan Lake" productions available to you before buying this one. You might be disappointed by this one. I was.

This filmed performance was styled by Nureyev, who choreographed and danced this performance - retaining and only mildly revising the traditional "white acts" choreography of Ivanovich/Petipa. Nureyev's aim was to give a lot more dancing and character to Prince Siegfried. Apart from his outrageously over-the-top makeup, Nureyev's realization of the Prince was, in addition to being the perfection of perfection, profoundly moving - the Prince can act!

But there's more. Margot Fonteyn was one of the greatest ballerinas ever. In 1961, when Nureyev famously leapt to the West, a partnership began that many have described as miraculous. Fonteyn's age was fairly transparent here. Certainly the technique maintained a high level of purity and style. Even though the roll was trimmed to accomadate the tolls of sin (Fonteyn was 47 when this was filmed!) and she probably was even more breathtaking at her peak, this performance will not dissapoint anyone but a moron.

Sadly, the corps here is remarkably weak and the orchestra [disappointing]. This is why it lost a star from me. Because the corps is so vital to this ballet, and Tchaikovsky's music so fine, you'll probably want another Swan Lake if you can only have one. The Kirov is probably the one, also on DVD. But if you're a [fan]for heart-melting beauty, you'll have to get it for Nureyev.

Contrary to what many reviewers experienced, I found this DVD to be surprisingly fresh and clear. I couldn't actually believe that it was 1966 when it was recorded. I had to double-check the notes. In fact, after seeing it once, I was certain that I had been mistaken. This looks like something from the 80s at least. But it's not.

4 Stars?

Well, when Margot Fonteyn danced, every single motion or gesture of hers was a poem of utmost beauty and she herself was the embodiment of supreme elegance. In view of the duration of her part here, she herself alone deserves 7 stars! Nureyev himself also deserves 6 stars as a dancer: there is hardly anyone either from Kirov or any other place who could seriously challenge him. The rest, especially by today's standard, are all 5 star ballerinas, and there are masses of them here.

For most ballet music, the composers tailor made their music to the requirements of the choreography. Tsaichovsky was an exception, his musical imagination was given a free hand: the original choreographist accommodated him and changed some of his part in accordance with his music. That partly explains why Tsaichovsky's Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty was such great music outshinging any other ballet music. Anyway, music and choreography in ballet should go either hand in hand or as glove befitting hand. Here lies the main drawback of this DVD: the choreography doesn't tie in well with the music and was often at odd with it! Nureyev, however great a dancer he was, didn't have good ears for music, it could also be seen from the conductor of the accompanying orchestra he preferred (?) whose treatment of Swan Lake is so out of line.

Nureyev introduced some new and novel elements in his choreography, notably the use of properties, say the roses, the bow and arrow, and the large clothes representing waves on the stage that at last engulfed the prince. He also mobilized masses of ballerinas to create various shapes, making them as scented as flowers. Even when they are only some simple geometric matrixes, they are equally spectacular especially when seen from a height.

The stage settings are great, the costumes too and there are numerous of them. Of course, viewers must bear in mind that however brilliant the photography was, it was filmed in 1968 after all. Furthermore, there are at times some makeshifts, however brief that may be, they are quite prosaic or even static: Nureyev was by then not as matured a choreographist as he later was, as could be seen from his "Sleeping Beauty with Ballet De L'opera De Paris".

Although visually striking, this book falls short of meeting the criteria of a good ABC learning book. The pictures used to represent the letter sounds were not always the first word that comes to a child's mind. For example: an artist's palette with pools of paint leads a child to say "paint" instead of "colors" as the artist intended. Dishes of ice cream are "S for sundae", a man playing a trumpet is "M for music" and these are only 2 more examples. "ABC Pop!" is wonderful for its illustrations but there are much better books to teach the ABC's.

Went to the library and found this book for my son. We have enjoyed many hours discussing modern art because of its stimilation. We discussed color, style and form. I explained how this art has influenced style, art, music, etc. today. And then we went to the museum to look at Pop art. What a wonderful book- I will always treasure it- I hope Ms. Isadora comes up with more books like this....Numbers POP! and I hope she reads this review!

I simply loved this book, it's about time a great visual Pop art book came out. I think the pictures are so original and yet draw on the artwork of the original artists. Looking at this book is like visiting a museum. Thank you, Ms. Isadora and I hope there will be more!

As a little boy, baseball was most certainly my first and only love...it was the reason this book was requested by me to be read everynight, and soon memorized word for word...at the time, girls and ballet were unimportant to me. However, as a college student-athlete (the only first baseman in the league who can do the splits!) deeply involved in gender studies, in particular the importance of examining an American culture that makes things such as boys unnaceptable, and also a participant during high school in the musicals and shows, I realized that this book had an instrumental role in creating this awareness within me at a young age...a big personal thanks to Rachel Isadora for such an inspiring and thought-provoking book...she hit a home run...

I am so happy to see this book is still in print. This was one of my childhood favorites when I was a "little ballerina". ( I loved the comical illustrations). Now I am a instructor and have many students boys and girls with siblings. I highly recommend this book to any parent, especially with a son who has to spend any time "hanging out at the dance studio". A great read!

I have a son who is a ballet dancer and I was thrilled to find a book he could relate to. I felt I just had to review it because I own a book store and have had numerous requests for books concerning boys who dance, ballet especially. We love this book because of it's energy, content and acceptance of an art that is not familiar to many people in this country. I thought the idea of combining ballet and baseball was brilliant. I wish Ms. Isadora would create a new book relating to boys who dance. Grand jete and tendu to Ms. Isadora! And thank you!

We don't need to see the Little Mermaid's nipples.
(I can never understand why the people who cry out that the nudity is "JUST art!" don't notice that it is never underdressed males, but little girls that we have to look at.)

Amazon.com rates this book for ages 4 - 8, but the text is difficult and violent, and the admittedly lovely art is appropriate for graphic novels in the _Sandman_ vein, not for kids.

Yes, it is a lovely story, yes, it was dark to begin with, and no it is not a children's book.

Good translation, pretty (aside from the gratuitousness) illustrations earn 2 stars.

Sulamith Wulfing's art is gorgeous! Unfortunately, most of the reviews I see here are NOT for her book! They are reviews of the version Rachel Isadora illustrated (see the "nipples" and violence comments); or even for Disney's Little Golden Book adapted from the cartoon. I don't understand why reviews for other versions are displayed here; it's very misleading! If you like Sulamith Wulfing's art, you'll probably like this book.

The Little Mermaid. Illustrated by Sulamith Wulfing; text by Hans Christian Andersen. Translated from the German by Petra Michel.

Sulamith Wulfing is a fantastic artist whose work has been sold as books of plates, calendars, and even decks of cards. This book is special because it is one of the few times that her works illustrate a story. Each page has black and white line drawings and there are ten full page color plates. The color plates are the type of work for which the artist is most known and the ten in this book have been reprinted in her calendars and other collected works. The color is vibrant and the themes of each are sublime. The cover illustration is also the last illustration in the text and shows the mermaid transformed into The Immortal Soul.

An epilog called "The Sacrifice" written by the artist's son, Otto Schulze, states that a new translation of Andersen's story was used and that "parts of the story have been summarized." While staying true to Andersen's original plot, incidents and characters have been left out and parts of the story have been changed. These changes raise the story above being a children's fairy tale and highlight its allegorical theme about the role of love in the quest for immortality. The modified text and the mystical art go together excellently to make this the best rendering of this story I have ever seen. Originally published in German in 1953, this work is as vibrant today as when it was first conceived 50 years ago.

At the end of the book is a brief one page biography of the author with an early photograph of her and a self portrait painted in 1953.

Oh the fond memories of this classic tale. This story tells of a little girl who obeys her abusive fathers' orders to stand in the freezing temperatures selling fireplace matches on the corner. She must sell all of the matches before she can return home. It was Christmas and she admired a puppy in the window at the pet store. Through the final three lit matches, she wishes of warm Christmas memories of her beloved deceased grandmother.
A must read story with the children. This is a heartwrenching tale that gets me choked up even as an adult. This story is an eye opener for everyone to count their blessings ever how big or small.
I want desperately to find this classic story on video (as I remember it when my brothers and I watched it as children many years ago).

I first read this story during Christmas week of my 5th Christmas. My mother found it in its entirety in a Christmas magazine and I read it.

An unnamed girl is sent out into the cold by her abusive father to sell matches. He beats her whenever she fails to bring in a satisfactory income for her work.

One night, after a day of no sales, the child, frozen to the bone, lights a match. A glorious vision of a Christmas tree appears. The vision fades away when the match burns out. The second match the girl lights shows a Christmas feast. This feast of illusions dies too, with the match.

The third time she lights a match, her beloved, deceased grandmother appears. The girl runs to her, never to return to the cold again. The next morning she is found frozen to death in the snow.

This story gets to me 100% of the time. To this day it makes me get misty eyed. It is truly the saddest Christmas story I have ever come across.

This is a story that has made me misty eyed since I was 5. I first read this story my 5th Christmas. It appeared in a Christmas magazine and to this very day it always makes me more than just a little misty eyed.

An unnamed girl is sent into the cold, cruel city to sell matches by her equally cold, cruel father. She turns her income over to him and he beats her when he feels she has not sold enough matches.

One night the girl, frozen to the bone, lights a match. A glorious Christmas tree appears, bright and blazing. That vision vanishes along with the match when it burns out.

The second match she lights shows a splendid holiday feast -- a Feast of Illusions. This, too, fades away when the match burns out.

The final match she lights reveals her beloved, deceased grandmother. The girl runs to her, never to return to the cold city streets.

The next morning, she is found, frozen to death in the street. This story gets to me every single time. I would never be able to read it aloud because it is just too sad.

Isadora Duncan is credited with being the mother of modern dance. When Isadora was young, her mother bought her her first ballet lessons. However, Isadora thought that dancing on her toes was ugly. "I dreamed of a different dance," she said. Isadora soon began teaching dance to neighborhood children. That was the beginning of her new style of dance. Isadora went on to found a dance school and company and become one of the most famous modern dancers in the world. The watercolored illustrations in this book depict nicely Isadora's free flowing style. However, the somewhat bland text does little justice to her highly innovative dance. Overall this book does a good job of showing that in order to be a good dancer you don't have to conform, but can dance from the heart.

I am a dancer and dance with a company that follows the teachings of Isadora Duncan. I and my fellow dancers are always thrilled when a book about this great legend comes out- and we are especially happy when it is such a beautiful and accurate one. It is a book that children as well as adults can enjoy, because the illustrations are wonderful and the events are historical. I just wonder, if Rachel Isadora was named after Isadora Duncan- I highly recommend this stunning book!

The illustrations are gorgeous!

Unfortunately, in picture after picture (not ALL, but way too many) the arms are in the wrong position in relation to the legs, which is a very unbalanced thing for a young child to try to imitate... and the beautifull illustrations are so engrossing that it's hard to explain to a youngster that the picture is showing either the wrong leg forward or the wrong arm up...

The so-called story is lacking any real plot, but then, that isn't why you buy this book anyway. Any young child will really really love the artwork. And unlike many other books on ballet, this one shows children, so little girls relate to it in a more personal way.

Buy it for the pictures, but for a how-to of steps and positions, get a different book that is more accurate.

I am an x ballerina and now my young daughter dances. She can't get enough of theis book and reads it over and over again. We loved the illustrations so much, that we wrote to Ms. Isadora and asked if she would sell us a piece of art from the book! The book simply but thoroughly explains ballet to a young child but to a novice as well. I am just thrilled that such a book is available!