Emma and Julia Love Ballet by Barbara McClintock

Emma and Julia Love Ballet by Barbara McClintock was published in 2016, and I love the diversity is shows. McClintock's illustrations are absolutely beautiful and she shows ballerinas of all colors. The author was inspired by the amazing Judith Jamison whom she saw dance on stage. 

This story follows Emma, a young red-head who loves to dance, and Julia, an older Black professional ballerina. The story is simple and shows their day. Emma gets to go see Julia in a performance later that night. 

This book includes the magic of going to the theater to see a live performance. If you love dance, you will like this book. I love that the dancers are both male and female as I have a son who loves dance. I also love that all colors of people are included from pasty white, glow in the dark people like me, to people with beautiful dark skin, and all the colors in between. 

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you.