The Jewel Heart by Barbara Helen Berger

Yesterday was Valentine's Day; but just because the holiday has ended, it doesn't mean that we're feeling any less magical. One of Ballet Petite's favorite stories is the story of The Jewel Heart. One of our StoryBox stories and our February theme, it tells the story of Gemino, the Pagliacci-style clown, who has no voice. He can sing with his violin and has a jewel for a heart. He played his violin for Pavelle, whose dancing was so beautiful that everyone would stop and stare. However, their simple beauty was destroyed one day, and Pavelle must find a way to bring the beauty of music and love back into their lives.

This simple story tells of love, heartbreak, and the beauty of music and dance. Pavelle's love saves Gemino. We learn that beauty isn't necessarily in beautiful things. We each have beauty within us, if we nurture it and let it grow.

We've chosen this beautiful story as our February theme not only because of its tales of love and redemption (perfect for Valentine's Day); we've also chosen it because it inspires us to use art to express emotion and to use dance to tell a story.

See The Jewel Heart on display at McLean, Bethesda, and Cabin John through the end of February!

Ballet Petite and Youth Performing Arts claims no copyright for The Jewel Heart. This book review is not endorsed by the authoress or her publishers.