Dance! Booklist
Title: Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy
By: Misty Copeland
Published: 2021
Misty Copeland was sixteen when she saw a Black ballerina on a magazine cover for the first time. The experience emboldened Misty and told her that she wasn't alone--and her dream wasn't impossible. In the years since, Misty has only learned more about the trailblazing women who made her own success possible by pushing back against repression and racism with their talent and tenacity. Misty brings these women's stories to a new generation of readers and gives them the recognition they deserve.
Age range: 7-12
Call Number: x792.8028 Copel.M
Title: Breaking to the Beat
By: Linda J. Acevedo
Published: 2023
In the 1970s Bronx, Manolo, a shy Puerto Rican boy, overcomes his fears and insecurities to become part of a new innovative dance style called breaking.
Age range: 10 and up
Call Number: JPicture Aceve.L
Title: To Dance
By: Siena Cherson Siegel
Published: 2019
Part family history, part backstage drama, this beautifully updated graphic memoir, which features a refreshed design and a brand-new scrapbook of Siena's mementoes, is an original, firsthand look a young dancer's beginnings. Siena Siegel is an author and former dancer who trained at the School of American Ballet.
Age range: 8-14
Call Number: JGraphic Siege.S
Title: Dancing Shoes
By: Noel Streatfeild
Published: 2003
After her mother's death, Rachel and her adopted sister Hilary are taken in by Aunt Cora, who runs a dancing school where Rachel's spoiled cousin Dulcie is the star pupil.
Age range: 5-11
Call Number: J Strea.N
Title: Danza!
By: Duncan Tontiuh
Published: 2017
A picture book biography about Amalia Hernández (1917-2000), the dancer and choreographer who founded the Mexican Folkloric Ballet, a dance organization that continues to perform today.
Age range: 6-10
Call Number: xBiog Herna.A Tonat.D
Title: Finding My Dance
By: Ria Thundercloud
Published: 2022
In her debut picture book, professional Indigenous dancer Ria Thundercloud tells the true story of her path to dance and how it helped her take pride in her Native American heritage.
Age range: 4-8
Call Number: xBiog Thund.R Thund.R
Title: Firebird
By: Misty Copeland
Published: 2014
American Ballet Theater soloist Misty Copeland encourages a young ballet student, with brown skin like her own, by telling her that she, too, had to learn basic steps and how to be graceful when she was starting out, and that some day, with practice and dedication, the little girl will become a firebird, too.
Age range: 5-9
Call Number: JPicture Copel.M
Title: Flora and the Flamingo
By: Molly Idle
Published: 2013
In this wordless book, a friendship develops between a girl named Flora and a graceful flamingo, as they learn to dance together.
Age range: 1-4
Call Number: JPicture Idle.M
Title: Freestyle
By: Gale Galligan
Published: 2022
Cory's dance crew is getting ready for a major competition. But the group starts to have problems as their crew captain gets increasingly intense about nailing the routine, and things go from bad to worse when Cory's parents ground him for not taking his grades seriously. He gets stuck with a new tutor, Sunna, who he dismisses as a boring nerd...until he catches her secretly practicing cool yo-yo tricks...With mounting pressure coming from all sides, how is Cory supposed to balance the expectations of his parents, school, dance, and his new friend?
Age range: 8-12
Call Number: JGraphic Galli.G
Title: An Invitation to the Ballet
By: Charlotte Guillain
Published: 2022
Open the envelope to discover one's very own invitation to the ballet, asking [the reader] to take a tour and peek behind the scenes to see what goes on between performances. Explore the lesser known areas of the theatre, such as the shoe room, the rehearsal studio and the healthcare suite. Open the gatefolds to display the costume department, the set-building workshops and a performance live on stage. Learn about famous ballets such as Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake.
Age range: 6-8
Call Number: x792.8 Guill.C
Title: Jazzy Miz Mozetta
By: Brenda C. Roberts
Published: 2004
On a beautiful evening, Miz Mozetta puts on her red dress and blue shoes and dances the jitterbug just like she did many years before.
Age range: 4-8
Call Number: JPicture Rober.B
Title: Learn to Speak Dance
By: Ann-Marie Williams
Published: 2011
Drawing upon years of experience as a dancer, and dance teacher, Ann-Marie Williams exposes every aspect of the world of dance--from different dance styles from around the world to tips on choreography, costume design, performance, staging, and even managing a potential career. She’s also brought along the expert opinions of a number of other dancers, set designers, choreographers, and reality TV judges, who share great tips and anecdotes throughout.
Age range: 9 and up
Call Number: x792.8 Willi.A
Title: Love, Lah Lah
By: Nailah Blackman-Thornhill
Published: 2024
A girl and her grandpa enjoy Carnival together.
Age range: 4-8
Call Number: JPicture Black.N
Title: Powwow : a celebration through song and dance
By: Karen Pheasant-Neganigwane
Published: 2020
Part of the nonfiction Orca Origins series for middle readers. Illustrated with photographs, Powwow is a guide to the dance, music and culture of this Indigenous celebration.
Age range: 9-12
Call Number: x970.1 Pheas.K
Title: Rap a Tap Tap : Here's Bojangles Think of That!
By: Leo Dillon
Published: 2002
In illustrations and rhyme describes the dancing of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, one of the most famous tap dancers of all time.
Age range: 4-8
Call Number: JPicture Dillo.L
Title: This is Tap : Savion Glover Finds His Funk
By: Selene Castrovilla
Published: 2023
An illustrated biography of Savion Glover, tap dancer and choreographer, that shows how his love of music, dance, and self-expression as a young boy sets him on the path to change how people see tap dancing.
Age range: 4-8
Call Number: xBiog Glove.S Castr.S
Title: Why We Dance: A Story of Hope and Healing
By: Deirdre Havrelock
Published: 2024
A young Indigenous girl's family helps calm her nervous butterflies before her first Jingle Dress Dance and reminds her why she dances.
Age range: 4-8
Call Number: JPicture Havre.D
Title: A World of Dancers
By: Ginjer L. Clarke
Published: 2023
Did you know that many Highland dances use swords to prove their strength? Or that bharatanatyam dancers perform with bells around their ankles and red dye on their hands and feet? Told with simple language and shown with vivid photographs, this book is perfect for emerging readers curious about the fascinating and varied dancers worldwide.
Age range: 8-9
Call Number: x792.8 Clark.G
Title: A Young Dancer: The Life of an Ailey Student
By: Valerie Gladstone
Published: 2009
Discusses the life of a young student dancer at the Alvin Alley American Dance Theater.
Age range: 10 and up
Call Number: x792.80973 Glads.V