Readers interested in dance will enjoy this informative backstage tour of a ballet theater, whichshows dancers training, a variety of jobs, and the specialized spaces needed to produce a balleton a grand scale. Bustling cartoon illustrations are the star of the show here, as each doublepage spread--and even a few double gatefolds--reveals different areas of the theater and theactivities occurring in each. The text appears as labels and a scattering of small paragraphsplaced near the person or feature they are describing. The book begins with a glimpse of thelobby and empty auditorium before venturing through the costume department, shoe room, wigroom, and makeup studio. Readers will also get a sense of the dancers' schedules, visiting themin different dance studios, the health center, and the canteen. The set-building workshop, lightingdepartment, and orchestra pit also get their due. Five classic ballets are described during thetour, which reaches its pinnacle with the evening's performance of Swan Lake. A well-roundedlook at life in the theater.

-- Booklist.