Whoever said that wishes don’t come true?
Today, I would like to share with you my book titled, “Best Friends”. This book is written by Anna Wilson and illustrated by Nicola Slater. The main characters are Nina, Bella and Peri. Nina is a fairy that is talented in ballet and receives a sponsorship to the Dance Academy. Bella is a cheeky and playful fairy who hates jazz dance but loves ballet. Peri is an adventurous fairy who loves to act.
Nina and Peri are both friends. They have not been getting along well lately. When an exciting guest, called Bella, arrives from the jazz dance school, Nina suddenly makes friend with her, and Peri feels left out. But Bella has a dark secret that she is hiding from Nina and Peri. Her mother, a famous jazz dancer, Folly Glove, wanted Bella to go to the jazz dance school. The other students hate her because she is in the jazz school because of her mother. So Bella purposely does badly in jazz so that the teachers will throw her out. Her new friends from ballet school wish that Bella will be able to stay.
Nina is my favourite character because she loves believing in others. Nina encourages Bella to show her mum that she likes ballet better than jazz. I also like Nina because she is talented in ballet. In the story, she wears a ballet tutu, ballet shoes and accessories in her hair. My least favourite character is Bella’s mother, Foxy Glove. I do not like her because she keeps discouraging Bella to dance ballet I also dislikes her because she always insists on strict behaviour. Foxy Gloves enjoys praise and admiration from her fans.
I like this story because the characters seem to come alive. When I read the part about Bella skipping around the studio, I feel that Bella is skipping right behind me! I wish that one day; my writing will be just as good. I dislike the illustrations in my storybook. The pictures look weird. Nina’s socks is always crumpled up. I thought ballerinas are all neatly attired. Secondly, why is Bella’s and Peri’s hair so messy? I think Nicola Slater’s drawing is quite good but she has to pay more attention to the details.
I love the ending because Bella gets her wish to join the dance academy. The headmistress asked Bella, Nina and Peri to dance “Petrushka” that all the fairies have been working on. When the three fairies take their places on the stage, Bella is determined to show her mum that she loves ballet much more than jazz. In the end, her dance was so captivating that the whole studio burst into a round of applause. Even Foxy Glove stands up and clap her hands. Bella’s mum decides to allow her to remain there.
I think the message in the story is to reach for your dreams. It teaches me not to give up whenever I feel like I want to. Nothing is impossible if you put your heart and soul into accomplishing it.
Grace Yeh
Age 10
Singapore Chinese Girls’ School
** Special thanks to Jackeline Carter of Academy IG Pte Ltd for making this possible.
Gathering Books 
I like that you had both the positive and the negative things to say about this book, Grace. It would be fun to write the illustrator to see why she drew the characters the way she did. I’m glad you’re satisfied with the ending because when we love a book, it’s nice to know that the characters will be okay, right? Finally, I like that you also took away a message from the book, as you shared at the end. Sounds like a great book, and thank you for the good review!
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