''Angelina Ballerina'' is a children's

book series A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their pub ...

by author

Katharine Holabird Katharine Holabird (born January 23, 1948) is an American writer, best known as the author of the ''Angelina Ballerina'' series, illustrated by Helen Craig, and the ''Twinkle'' series, illustrated by Sharon Williams. Early life and education B ...

and illustrator

Helen Craig Helen Craig (born 30 August 1934) is an English children's book illustrator and writer. She is best known for creating the Angelina Ballerina series of children's books with writer Katharine Holabird. Craig was born in London, evacuated duri ...

about a fictional mouse (full name Angelina Jeanette Mouseling) who is training to become a

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

. The first book in the series was published in 1983, and since then there have been over twenty books in the series. The series is set in Chipping Cheddar, a place that is similar to 1920s

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and is inhabited by anthropomorphic mice. The name "Angelina" was inspired by an editor named Angela at

Aurum Press The Quarto Group is a global illustrated book publishing group founded in 1976. It is domiciled in the United States and listed on the London Stock Exchange. Quarto creates and sells illustrated books for adults and children, across 50 countri ...

. The books have been adapted by

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Soph ...

into two animated television series: ''

Angelina Ballerina ''Angelina Ballerina'' is a children's book series by author Katharine Holabird and illustrator Helen Craig about a fictional mouse (full name Angelina Jeanette Mouseling) who is training to become a ballerina. The first book in the series was p ...

'' (2001-2003, along with a series of specials that ran until 2006) and the CGI-animated '' Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps'' (2009–2010). It has also been adapted as a touring ballet.

Books

Adaptations

In 2001, ''

'', a British animated TV series of 40 fifteen-minute episodes based on the books, was produced by

in the United Kingdom. The series featured actress

Finty Williams Tara Cressida Frances "Finty" Williams (born 24 September 1972) is an English actress. Life Williams was born on 24 September 1972 in London, the only child of Judi Dench and Michael Williams. Williams trained at the Central School of Speech an ...

as the voice of Angelina, and her mother

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

as Miss Lilly. The series aired on

CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

in the United Kingdom and on

PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Instead, ...

in the United States, where it was presented by

Connecticut Public Television Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member network for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, a community-based non-profit organization that holds the licenses ...

. A computer-animated revival, '' Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps'', premiered on PBS stations in September 2009. It is directed by

Davis Doi Davis Doi (born 1957) is a animation director and producer known for numerous American animated series and television films, as well as various ''Scooby-Doo'' and ''Care Bears'' video productions. He has been a part of many Hanna-Barbera and Cart ...

and animated at

SD Entertainment SD Entertainment is an American animation studio specialising in direct-to-DVD and theatrical movies for children. The "SD" in the initials of the company name stand for Sabella Dern, the respective last names of its founders: former MGM Animation ...

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

, after purchasing CPTV's production unit, is the producer of the program.

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...

took a live version of ''Angelina Ballerina'' called ''Angelina's Star Performance'' on tour in autumn 2007. A second revival was announced in 2015, was to be co-produced by

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

(who acquired HiT Entertainment in 2012) and

9 Story Media Group 9 Story Media Group Inc. (formerly known as 9 Story Entertainment) is a Canadian children's television series, children's media production company and international distributor founded by Vincent "Vince" Commisso, Steve Jarosz, and Blake Tohana o ...

. A revival of ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomorp ...

'' was announced at the same time.Mattel/Hit, 9 Story to reboot Barney, Angelina
/ref> However, no new information on either revival has been provided since the initial announcement.

References

External links

Official Katharine Holabird website

Official ''Angelina Ballerina'' TV series website

Official ''Angelina Ballerina, The Musical'' website

English National Ballet performs ''Angelina's Star Performance''
{{Authority control British children's books British picture books Series of children's books English National Ballet British novels adapted into plays British novels adapted into television shows Children's books adapted into television shows English-language books Books about mice and rats Fictional ballet dancers Books about families Children's books about friendship Female characters in literature Literary characters introduced in 1983 Book series introduced in 1983 1983 children's books