Baseball Ballerina

Step into Reading 3

by Kathryn Cristaldi

AR Test

At A Glance

Interest Level

5+

Entertainment
Score

Reading Level
2.2

Number of Pages
48

A shortstop in a tutu? Not if she can help it! Forced by her mother to take ballet lessons, a die-hard tomboy discovers that there is team spirit at the barre as well as on the baseball diamond.

The unnamed narrator doesn’t want her baseball team to know she is taking ballet lessons because they might think she is a wimp. The narrator also doesn’t understand why her best friend Mary Ann enjoys ballet and wants to wear a crown. In the end, the narrator saves the dance recital because of her baseball skills. The unexpected conclusion shows the narrator giving her baseball team high fives. She thinks, “Maybe ballet isn’t so bad after all. But I still like baseball better.”

Baseball Ballerina is part of the Step into Reading Level Three Series, which targets readers in first grade through third grade. With three short chapters, Step Three books are both longer and slightly more difficult than Step Two books. Each page has 3 to 7sentences and a large illustration. This level includes some more challenging vocabulary and concepts, though the meaning is made clear through context and illustrations.

Baseball Ballerina is a fun story about baseball, ballet, and best friends. Beginning readers will love the illustrations that show the narrator in her baseball uniform and in a dandelion ballet costume. Plus, the story encourages readers to try new activities and to find joy in each new activity. For more sports action readers will want to catch a copy of Parker Shines On: Another Extraordinary Moment by Parker & Jessica Curry and the Little Rhino Series by Ryan Howard & Krystle Howard.

Sexual Content 