Big Dreams for Little Dancers

By Sally Lodge, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 10/4/2007

Four years ago, a resourceful, creative physical therapist in Queens found a way to make the dreams of a number of bright-eyed little girls come true. Joann Ferrara, who works with youngsters who have cerebral palsy, heard from many parents that their daughters longed to take ballet, but that standard ballet schools couldn’t accommodate their disabilities. So Ferrara decided to launch her own ballet classes, Dancing Dreams, as a supplement to the girls’ physical therapy.

After months of practice, perseverance and hard work, these preschool- and elementary school aged girls—who use walkers or wheelchairs in their off-stage lives and perform with the help of teenage volunteers—gave their first recital. Their preparation and performance are documented in Ballerina Dreams: A True Story by Lauren Thompson, with photographs by James Estrin. Feiwel & Friends will publish the book this month with a 100,000-copy first printing.

Publisher Jean Feiwel explains that she first learned about Ferrara and these aspiring ballerinas in a May 2006 article in the New York Times. “The girls’ faces just spoke to me,” Feiwel recalls. “They were so beautiful and so ethereal. Of course they have cerebral palsy but I just didn’t see that. I saw them living every little girl’s dream of being a ballerina—wearing tutus, tiaras and glitter. I knew this story would make a wonderful book.”

When Feiwel reached Ferrara by phone, she says, “We connected instantly. Joann is so dedicated to these girls, many of whom she has known from birth.” A visit to Queens confirmed the publisher’s enthusiasm about developing their story into a book. “Meeting the girls and their parents at the school, I realized there was such incredible joy in what they were doing. Obviously, their lives are very difficult, but I didn’t feel that in the room. I knew right away that I wanted to figure out the best way to get this book done.”

When the time came to choose an author for the project, Feiwel turned to Lauren Thompson (Polar Bear Night; The Apple Pie That Papa Baked), a former children’s book editor who worked with Feiwel for years at Scholastic. “This is an uplifting story about having a dream and I didn’t want the book to be one that would land only in the special needs section. I knew that Lauren could make this a story for everyone—for every little girl and for every family.”

Author Lauren Thompson.
Photo: JuAnn Ng

Thompson warmed to the project immediately. Reading the Times article, she notes, “I fell in love with these girls right away. I was so glad that Jean asked me to write this book, because I didn’t want anyone else to write it.” She acknowledges that the book was a new experience for her, since she had never written a nonfiction book that entailed interviewing children and, though she knew quite a bit about ballet from her own childhood experiences, she knew nothing about cerebral palsy. “We didn’t want to hide or deny that the girls have challenges, but we wanted to convey that they are just like all little girls—they giggle, they have friends and they were very excited and nervous about putting on their performance,” she says.

Over several months, Thompson spent time with the ballerinas and their parents, some of whom initially had many questions about the focus of the book and how it would come together. “Joann was very instrumental in explaining to them that the book was not in any way a pity party, but a celebration,” says the author. “She smoothed the way and deserves a lot of credit for making this book happen.”

Feiwel explains that Estrin, who photographed the original Times article, also embraced the book from the start. Though he returned to Queens to shoot some additional photos—including a front and back cover shot featuring the faces of the five prima donnas on whom the book focuses—Estrin had already taken more than 600 photographs for the original article, providing an extensive cache to choose from for the book. “It was almost as though he had a feeling from the start that there was something really big and wonderful here,” Thompson muses.

Thompson, Estrin and Ferrara will make bookstore visits to promote Ballerina Dreams, and Ferrara will spread word in her professional arena through mailings and appearances. The launch party featuring Thompson, Ferrara and the ballerinas is scheduled for November 11 at the Barnes & Noble in Bayside, Queens, and will include a red carpet, cake and ballet-themed giveaways. The young ballerinas may well find themselves in a very bright spotlight shortly after, as a crew from the Today Show is scheduled to tape their mid-November performance of The Nutcracker and talk to the dancers.

A portion of the book’s proceeds will go to Ferrara to help support Dancing Dreams, which Thompson finds gratifying. “I love to think that Joann will be able to expand her program. She exudes the positive belief that these girls can do anything and she has seen them make strides no one would have believed. Joann knows what a child’s spirit is capable of.”