SLJ Talks to Mikhail Baryshnikov about His New Children's Book
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-- School Library Journal, 5/2/2007
Mikhail Baryshnikov, often called the world's greatest living male ballet dancer, has performed worldwide and received many honors. But many people don't know that he's also a children's book author. His earlier Stories from My Childhood (Abrams, 2002), a collection of 11 Russian and European fairy tales, was criticized by reviewers for its fuzzy illustrations.
But his latest children's book, Because… (S & S, Atheneum/Ginee Seo Bks., 2007), about an eccentric grandmother, received more favorable reviews. SLJ spoke to the dancer, choreographer, and actor about his second foray into the world of children's literature, a book that he coauthored with illustrator Vladimir Radunsky.
Why is a renowned ballet dancer, choreographer, and arts foundation director launching a children's book?
I think art education is the most important aspect in any education. And this country sorely needs its encouragement, given the historic [record] on the subject. I also have a personal agenda—four kids and two grandchildren—so I was creating this book just for them.
American arts education certainly has its critics. What do you say is lacking?
Sources of finance. European governments give much more to education and art, it's no secret. Their children speak multiple languages, and art is a natural part of the home. [In the U.S.] we are a country oriented to sports and computers, sports especially, and art is a kind of a sideline, so [among children] just the lucky ones are introduced [to the arts] by their parents or strangers or teachers, or unintentionally. Or, like this book, by an eccentric grandmother who introduces this kid to dance! You know, and I know, people like that! I sometimes take dance classes with the extravagant ladies like that!
Was "the grandmother" based on someone you know?
She looks suspiciously like Vladimir's wife! Mind you, I was like a cheerleader and consultant on this book; I'm not a writer. We just decided that often it's not necessarily a mother or father that introduces a kid to the arts, but some relative—a cousin, a grandmother, an uncle or aunt--who gives a kid a guitar or brings watercolors to a little girl. [That person] implants confidence in the child that he or she can do it and do it very well.
I appreciated how Because… emphasizes that even people without perfect bodies can be dancers.
Being an artist is not just about the dance. What we're trying to say is that being an artist is an honor, no matter how you're built and what kind of voice you have and how pretty your face is. It's being able to understand that art is not an activity for uber alles, it is for everybody, whether or not you become an artist professionally.
So, for a librarian trying to teach a love of the arts—any words of wisdom?
I hope that in [our book's] language and humor, adults and children recognize their own everyday situations because [even] at a tender age they appreciate good music and good dance and being cool. They have their own heroes, but what we are saying is heroes don't necessarily have to be baseball players or hip-hop artists. [A hero] could be a singer, a dancer, an artist. [Art] is for everybody and being an artist is an admirable and wonderful state to be in. That's what we're trying to share—our life experience—to open the doors for the kids.
