Pirouette your way to the Shimmer and Shine dance studio! This first offering in a fun, inclusive, and accessible early chapter-book series brings the joy of dance to young readers. When Yara joins a community dance school, she meets lots of other children her age who are there to start their training or just for the fun of it. Soon she has a group of ballet besties she loves to dance with—until their grumpy landlady, Dame Clougston-Willmott, threatens to close the studio. Suddenly it’s up to Yara and her new friends to keep Shimmer and Shine open! Will putting on a performance of The Sleeping Beauty reawaken the Dame’s love for dance? Could Yara have a chance to dance her dream role of Aurora? And most important of all, can the ballet besties save their studio? From a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet and an award-winning children’s author comes an engaging story of friendship, responsibility, and teamwork, with back matter explaining the various dance techniques and more. Black-and-white illustrations bring a diverse group of characters to life. Gentle grayscale illustrations cheerfully match the easy tone of the story.. . .ballet enthusiasts and fans of friendship stories will enjoy its warmth and charm. . . .A sweet friendship story tied neatly in a ballet bun. —Kirkus Reviews Yara and her friends’ excitement surrounding their performance of The Sleeping Beauty and around ballet in general is infectious—don’t be surprised if young readers begin practicing their pas de chat after reading! —Booklist Pleasant and inclusive. . . These stories, which were written in ­partnership with a principal dancer with the royal ­ballet, feature realistic ballet details that young dancers will appreciate, as well as regular illustrations throughout. —School Library Journal Yasmine Naghdi is a principal of the Royal Ballet and has been dancing with the company since 2010. Her many roles include Odette/Odile ( Swan Lake ), Princess Aurora ( The Sleeping Beauty ), Juliet ( Romeo and Juliet ), and the Sugar Plum Fairy ( The Nutcracker ). She has performed all over the world and is passionate about showing that ballet is for everyone. Yasmine Naghdi lives in London. Chitra Soundar is the award-winning author of more than forty books for children, including a series of chapter books about Sona Sharma, illustrated by Jen Khatun, as well as A Sliver of Moon and a Shard of Truth: Stories from India , illustrated by Uma Krishnaswamy, and It’s Time to Hush and Say Good Night , illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat. Chitra Soundar loves writing books in a variety of genres and travels the world visiting schools and appearing at festivals to bring Indian stories to children everywhere. She grew up in Chennai, India, and lives in southeast London. Paula Franco studied illustration and graphic design at Instituto Superior Comunicación Visual in Argentina and now illustrates children’s books. She lives in Argentina. Chapter One Yara woke up that morning before her alarm went off. She was just too excited to sleep. It was finally Tuesday—the best Tuesday of her entire life, because that afternoon Yara would be going to a proper ballet class in a proper studio with a proper real-life ballet teacher. The first thing Yara did, after getting out of bed, was check and double-check her new ballet bag. -Three leotards and a wrap-around skirt -Three pairs of ballet tights -Hair accessories: a bun cover, a pack of hairnets, hairpins, and hairbands -Pair of soft ballet shoes -Pair of knitted leg warmers -Padlock and key for the locker room Check, check, check! Normally Yara wouldn’t have bought new dance wear, but this new place was special. After years of learning by herself, she would finally be part of a class and perform with other dancers. Also, that summer Yara had grown a bit taller and her old leotards and tights didn’t fit well, so it was time for new ones for a fresh start. Last month, Yara had moved with her family to this town from another country. Before that, they’d moved many times, following her papa’s job wherever it took him. He was an eco-engineer who worked with factories all over the world to make them less polluting. Yara didn’t mind the moving around—she got to see so many new places—but it did mean she’d never been able to join a ballet school before. This time, however, Papa was going to work here permanently and they could settle down at last. “It’ll be good for your studies,” said Mama when Papa had shared the news that this move would be the last one, “for us to be based in one place.” “And for ballet,” Yara had replied. “I can finally go to a proper ballet school, where I can actually stay long enough to become a professional dancer.” Papa laughed. “School and ballet, Yara,” he said, “in that order.” “But—” Yara started to object. “We’ll make a deal with you, Yara,” Mama said, putting an arm around her. “We’ll find you a good ballet school, but you must promise to focus on school and keep your grade