For use in schools and libraries only. When Belinda auditions for the Spring Ballet Recital and the judges tell her she can not be a ballerina because her feet are too big, she tries to forget about dancing.
When Belinda, a tiny girl with enormous feet, is cast as a clown in her school's talent show she is very unhappy, but after each disastrous rehearsal she observes an older student ballet dancing, then goes home to practice what she has seen.
It's every little girl's dream to be a ballerina, right? Well, not in the case of Belinda, the ninja ballerina. Enrolled in ballet classes against her will, Belinda would take a headstand over a pirouette any day. But nobody will actually listen to Belinda's protests that she wants to be a ninja, not a ballerina. That is until Belinda stages a one-girl protest and demands her rights. Her teacher has to put her thinking cap on and finally comes up with a solution that will keep everybody happy.
Naughty Toes is narrated by a little girl called Trixie. At the start of the story she compares herself to her sister, Belinda, who is, we are told, a ballerina. Trixie, however, is not. And we go on to discover Trixie's anti-ballet tendencies in the dancewear she picks out at the shop, the dismay her unconventional technique elicits from her stern teacher, Madame Mina, the way she does her hair, eats an ice-cream, and the part she is given in the end-of-term show - a rock! But Trixie does have talents, even if they don't quite fit the rules of a ballet class, and it's the class pianist, Mr Tiempo, who can see that Trixie would rather be doing a toe-tap than a twirl. Trixie is full of free-spirited energy and she knows her own mind. At the end of the book, we discover how the contents of a mysterious box - left backstage for Trixie after the end-of-term show - allow her to step out and shine . . . as a tap dancer!
A powerful saga of family, love, honour and betrayal from the bestselling author of TUSCAN ROSE 'You who judge me: come! Let me tell you a story ...'Paloma Batton is the granddaughter of Spanish refugees who fled Barcelona after the Civil War. A disciplined student with the School of the Paris Opera Ballet, Paloma lets little get in the way of her career until she receives a mysterious pair of golden earrings. She begins exploring her Spanish heritage and becomes fascinated by 'la Rusa', a woman who rose frompoverty to become one of the great flamenco dancers of modern times before committing suicide.As Paloma begins to unravel the secrets of the past, she discovers more than one person who had good reason for wanting la Rusa dead, including Paloma's own grandmother.Golden Earrings is a story that moves between two great cities: Barcelona in the lead-up to the Civil War and Paris in the 1970s. It is the story of two women and the extremes to which they are willing to go for love. It is a story of great passions - and great betrayals - where nothing is quite as it seems.'totally enthralling' - Herald Sun
Jeremy Walker is 44, handsome, refined and world famous for his lavishly illustrated children's books. His life is ordered, comfortable - until he is seduced by a beautiful 16-year-old runaway. Belinda: innocent yet passionate, she becomes his elegant muse and lover. His portraits of her, shocking and erotic, are the finest work he has ever done - yet to reveal them could destroy his career for ever. As his passion for her deepens, so does his obsession with the past she will not talk about. Terrified of losing her, he is unable to live with her silence; and as he probes for the truth, he finds himself swept up in the world Belinda has fled from, a world of Hollywood money, lust and dark family secrets.
"I'LL TAKE TWO!" That's what Bibi Branchflower says about everything. She has two houses, two hats (exactly alike), and two silly dogs. But she doesn't have a single friend. When she comes across a beautiful jewel box, of course she wants two of them. Though there's only one like it in all the world, inside two dancers spin. Perfect! The shopkeeper explains that the box is enchanted—all who look on the ballerinas will see sorrow in their faces. Soon Bibi becomes more concerned with her sad ballerinas than with worldly riches. What will make them happy? It is her love that finally transforms them into living, breathing, happy children—and gives Bibi two real friends.