Grand Jeté and Me

Kent, a principal ballerina of the New York City Ballet for three decades under George Balanchine, lends her experience to this simply told picture book following a child and her former prima ballerina grandmother, nicknamed Grand Jeté. After a lunch where the excited young narrator and Grand Jeté, who are white, “plié next to the stools before we sit down,” they “put on their faces” in front of Grand Jeté’s lighted vanity. Dressed in matching red coats, the pair hurries through the backstage door of the theater—which detail-oriented readers will recognize as that of Lincoln Center—where they meet the dancers before taking front-row seats and becoming engrossed in Balanchine’s production, which features dancers of various skin tones. Glasser’s kinetic, wispy artwork, rendered in pen, watercolor, and gouache, warmly pays homage to ballet form onstage and off, capturing the text’s free-spirited, memory-centered vibe. Back matter includes an author’s note and glossary of ballet terms. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)