Overview

It's nighttime and Desdamona is ready for bed. Her favorite thing is to be read a bedtime story about a famous ballet. Every night a different member of her richly multicultural family reads her a different story. Tonight it's her mother and the story is Raymonda... Raymonda is the story of a princess who is in love with a humble knight who leaves to go on the Crusades. While away, Raymonda is introduced to another knight who has much riches, treasures and power. Raymonda must choose what is right for her. Independent minded and focused on her own values, our strong female protagonist sticks to her own values to make her decision. As Desdamona sleeps, she dreams she is dancing the lead in the ballet of Raymonda. When she wakes she is inspired and has lots of interesting questions about her dream. This story within a story is full of adventures, fantasy and promotes bi-racial and multicultural characters with additional reading comprehension and history behind the ballet at the end of the book. A real treat for young dreamers, dancers and thinkers alike!

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9781981501557

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Matina Banks is a ballerina and former teaching artist of 17 years. Throughout her years of teaching she developed a love of children's books and using them as teaching tools to help her students with their academics. Now retired from teaching to focus more on her ballet career, Ms. Banks is combining all her passions; dance, media, and literacy into this wonderful project. Ms. Banks is a mixed race ballerina herself and the inspiration for Desdamona is a composite of herself and several family members who also grew up loving ballet. She currently lives and works in New York City where she shares a studio/office/apartment with a crazy cat named Cheech.

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