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Sugar Plum Ballerinas
(2008, Fiction - Friendship, Written by Whoopi Goldberg, Deborah Underwood, Illustrated by Maryn Roos)
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings(Flash is loading. If this text does not disappear you need to install the latest flash version)
Not age appropriate for kids under 5, age appropriate for kids over 7; suggested age 7. -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Important lessons on staying true to friends and yourself.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 7 and Up
The good stuff
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
About Sugar Plum Ballerinas
Parents need to know that the lessons in this book, especially those about being an individual, are good ones, even for kids not interested in ballet. One girl always tries to talk in backward sentences, which might need to be explained to younger readers.
Read our full review by Patricia Tauzer
Families Can Talk About
- Families can talk about Alexandra and all of the feelings she feels as she is forced into moving away from her friends to a place unfamiliar to her, taking ballet lessons that she hates, and wearing outfits that make her feel uncomfortable. What did she learn by going along with her mother's plans? How did it change her life? What did you think when her mother made her wear the puffy pink tutu and tights decorated with lightning bolts? How did that affect the kinds of friends she made? What do you think of the girls who became her friends? What about those who made fun of her? Why did she feel uncomfortable being the Sugar Plum fairy? What did she learn by going through with her solo? What did her friends learn?
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