The book is very pretty, the backgrounds are light and airy, the ballet dancers are very expressive, and I love it that it's a diverse bunch of people.

The text follows the common counting book pattern in which the crowd starts from ten but keeps thinning as people go away one at a time. It would be difficult to read this book aloud to the kids if you don't know French, unless you keep checking back at the pronunciation guide at the end of the book. If I was editing this book I would have changed some of the punctuation. At one point there is a dangling participle that makes it sound like the teacher stumbled, but according to the illustration the stumbling person was a student.

The Netgalley description of this book promises that it teaches the vocabulary of ballet, and that it "Includes a fun-to-read glossary of terms". Whether it is fun-to-read is debatable but it didn't really teach me that much about ballet terminology as the movements are not really explained anywhere in the book. It is rather hard to illustrate the movements in freeze frame shots, and the glossary is mostly just a translation from the French. This book would make a wonderful cartoon video which would be more educational as you could see the movement.

My rating is three stars for the text and five stars for the illustrator, Kathrine Gutkovskiy!

I read a free copy that I got from Netgalley, and expressed my honest opinion.

Beautifully written and illustrated book, counting backwards from 10 and learning words associated with ballet. Excellent choice for fans of ballet! Recommended for preschool and early elementary students.

This book would be very cute for children learning numbers as well as subtraction. As an educator, I'm always looking at books with the question of how I would read them to my class. I loved that in this book there is a clear pattern of subtraction where my students could easily call out while I read until the "twist" at the end which my students would find funny. There are ballet terms used throughout the book but there is a guide in the back that tells the reader how to pronounce the word and what it means. If you were reading this to a child, if they were not in ballet or had previous knowledge, you would want to talk about the ballet terms before reading so they would understand.
I really loved the illustrations and how the background was abstract but I was still able to tell what it was. This made the characters, who are the center of attention, easily visible. I also loved that the ballet dancers were boys and girls as normally dance books only include girls.

10 Ballet Dancers is a sweet counting book about a delightfully diverse ballet class. Written by Amanda Malek-Ahmadi, the rhyming is sing-songy and fun. The ending has a surprise twist that was quite charming.

The illustrations, by Kathrine Gutkovskiy, are lovely, with a tremendous amount of character put into each little dancer.

Excellent for parents and kids alike, especially those with a particular love of ballet.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Small-Tooth-Dog Publishing Group for the ARC!

A lovely children’s book about a surprise in a ballet class. the illustrations are absolutely splendid and delightful.

I personally really love ballet so going through this book was very enjoyable.

The author and the illustrator did a fantastic job.

My last school was ballet obsessed and this book would be very popular with the pre-K classes. The surprise at the end, going from two to zero, was a clever twist on a popular and well-known formula, and the birthday party at the end was sweet. The illustrations were so-so. A perfectly serviceable book.

I really enjoyed the illustrations of this book. The pronunciation guide was also very helpful for anyone reading the book who doesn’t know the terms. I could definitely see myself reading this to my nieces and nephews !

This picture book is beautiful and combines counting skills with an introduction to ballet terms. While the illustrations show what that ballet move may look like, the glossary provides the reader with a pronunciation guide and short translation of the phrase. Truly such a cute book.

I requested to review this book to see if it would be a good fit for a family member who is a young ballet dancer. I will def be on the look out for this book as a potential gift! It is nicely illustrated and depicts a good storyline.

Omg!!!! That's so freaking cute!!!! And I was learning to count all over again!

This would be the second time this week because I just learnt counting again while giving out a list in my blog.

And this one is so apt with all the ballet terms. Yes, I am never too old for learning stuffs. And yes, the glossary at the end of the picture book is quite helpful!

I love the illustration and the subtle colour choices.

I actually love the concept of celebrating the teacher and the positive vibes surrounding the characters.

Thanks NetGalley for the copy.

I always love finding a new ballet picture book that actually uses terminology correctly and depicts the dancers’ anatomy more or less accurately. This book already appeals to me for that reason, especially because the female dancers’ pointe shoe ribbons are tied properly! I also really like the artistic style. The dancers are drawn with precise lines evidently drawn in ink, while the background is more abstract without clearly defined lines. I’m guessing it’s watercolor. It’s clearly a spacious, brightly lit studio with huge windows and a very shiny floor, but the focus is on the dancers. This would be a great book for kids who take ballet and will recognize the terminology, but it would also be a great book for a ballet-themed storytime intended to introduce kids to dance. My only complaint is that the ABB rhyme scheme feels a bit weird.

I'm totally in love with this book!
It's a book for young dancers, with a lot of steps to watch and learn, a glossary, and beautiful illustrations to enjoy.
I love the last part with the surprise, it's so sweet.. I'm a ballet teacher and I can feel the love of the students for her teacher.
I also love the diversity in the classes, colors, bodies... I think any child could feel related to the book.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

I didn't particularly care for the illustrations in this book. Also, this probably wouldn't hold the interest of any child who hasn't taken ballet as technical terms used in it are littered throughout the book before being defined in a glossary at the end of the book.

I thought that this book was lovely and a great addition to any young ballet dancers out there. I was a little mixed with what the age range would be for the book as generally the children that can do these moves and know the names will know how to count to ten but it is still a nice touch and I liked the glossary of terms at the end too. The mix of genders and ethnic backgrounds too to show diversity and the images are lovely – it is 3.5 stars from me for this one, rounded up to 4 stars for Goodreads and Amazon

I enjoyed parts of this story. I really like the idea of a counting ballet book. However I don't like the way the text unfolded. At times it felt cluttered and clunky and the rhyme scheme was awkward. I also think that it is a difficult read for those who don't know ballet lingo. There is a glossary in the back but it's super inconvenient to do a first read without any idea how to say the words.

"!0 Ballet Dancers" by Amanda Malek-Ahmadi is targeted to a very specific audience: kids that enjoy ballet. If you have a little ballerina on your hands, then this book would make a very cute gift or addition to a childhood library. It was a counting book that started from 10 and went down, so math skills were incorporated. I appreciated that it wasn't just a cutesy ballet book, but rather introduced different ballet steps and techniques.In fact, at the end of the book there is a section that shows different dance steps such as pas de chat, pique, tour jetes, and etc. and a picture of a ballerina performing that step beside it. Great, introductory book about ballet concepts for young readers.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of "10 Ballet Dancers" in exchange for an honest review.

10 Ballet Dancers is a beautifully illustrated ballet variation on “10 Little Monkeys.” The watercolor illustrations are delicate like a ballerina, and I enjoyed the variety of terminology and glossary that makes this book a great introduction for little ballerina girls and boys learning to count. The choice of words make the flow of reading a little jarring at times, and I struggled with the glossary a bit in the back. I wish it would show a diagram of the movement for children to learn.

Overall, the book was enjoyable and I would highly recommend it to families, especially those with an interest in dance.

Thank you to NetGalley, The Small-Tooth-Dog Publishing Group, and Amanda Malek-Ahmadi for an advance copy of the book to review. #10BalletDancers #NetGalley

3 1/2 stars. The art work is good and story appeals to kids. This is similar to the 'Five little monkeys' or 'There were 10 in the bed' rhymes for the tiny tots. This would be a fascinating read for young minds learning counting , and also they would be aware of ballet and movements.

Overall I recommend the book for parents who wish to read to their kids. The drawings are clear and bright and would attract the little ones.

Countdown with the ballet students from 10-1 to learn all about the life of a ballerina.

This book is so cute. I was a ballet student for years before I knew the technical terms for some of these moves. This little book does double teaching duty. It’s great practice for counting, but also for learning ballet terms, which are all in French, so add foreign language to small skills your kiddos can learn and practice with this book.

The prose has a nice cadence to it, and the artwork is super cute as well. It made me a little nostalgic for my own dancing days, and as my niece is now a tiny ballerina, I’d love to read this with her and have her demonstrate some of the positions and moves in the book.

It’s out in October, so if you’re looking for something to liven up story time, encourage little ones to get up and dance along, keep an eye out for this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy!

I adored this children's book! The moment I started reading it, it took me back to my childhood ballet days, and I know I would have LOVED this book as a child. I would have been so smitten with the illustrations, counting down, the ballet terms...everything! I was also thrilled to find the Glossary at the end of the book as well, since it did occur to me while I was reading that someone may not know what these words meant or how to pronounce them--and then the Glossary appeared! And even those illustrations and the layout were wonderful.

I enjoyed the story as well -- yes, it's appealing as a book to learn numbers and counting, but it also can teach ballet and dance, the story of friendship, and the idea of how to express care for a teacher or others around you.

Perhaps my only complaint would be that I wish a person of size was represented within the illustrations; but the other representation and diversity in the characters was wonderful, showing all genders, short and tall, different skin colors, hair colors, hair lengths...there will certainly be a character every little reader will find themselves in.