A knowing, witty, and deliciously wicked inside look at opera today -- the feuds and deals, maestros and managers, divine voices, and outsized egos. Propelled by her lifelong passion for opera, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Manuela Hoelterhoff takes us on a two-year trip on the circuit with Cecilia Bartoli, the irresistible young mezzo whose popularity has set records in music circles around the world. We see Bartoli among her family, her colleagues, her rivals; how she happened; what it is to be a diva; where the money comes from; and what the price can be for success. And, traveling from the Metropolitan to the backstages of the legendary opera houses of Europe, we meet everyone in Bartoli's world -- the Wagnerite obsessed with her cyberspace fan mail; the charismatic tenor with a complex love life; Luciano Pavarotti, aiming for the high Cs in his twilight years -- even as Hoelterhoff lets fly (brilliantly informed) gossip and opinions along the way. Dazzling entertainment, and an education in what makes the world of grand opera run -- and run amok.

Although she is busy, Cinderella takes time to help her animal friends, and they repay her for the kindness she shows them.

Once upon a planetoid, amid her tools and sprockets, a girl named Cinderella dreamed of fixing fancy rockets. With a little help from her fairy godrobot, Cinderella is going to the ball. But when the prince's ship has mechanical trouble, someone will have to zoom to the rescue! Readers will thank their lucky stars for this irrepressible fairy tale retelling, its independent heroine, and its stellar happy ending. Plus, this is the fixed format version, which will look almost identical to the print version. Additionally for devices that support audio, this ebook includes a read-along setting.

"This is a story about darkness and light, about sorrow and joy, about something lost and something found. This is a story about love." Cinderella's story has been told over and over, but never has it been touched by the kind of magic created by the contributors of this book. Mary Blair painted the original pictures for Walt Disney's incomparable animated film, and here her elegant art is gathered together as a picture book. Cynthia Rylant's stories about hardscrabble lives have won not only awards and honors, but hearts. Who better to take a young girl from the darkness of her garret room to the light and brilliance of a ballroom? Together these two great artists have created something quite astonishing: a Cinderella that is breathtaking, heartrending, and joyous, both for those who are coming to the tale for the very first time, and for those who think they know it well.

Princesses Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Rapunzel swap fairy tales with one another in this hilariously clever new classic! Once upon a time, four fairy tale misses, tired of dwarves, witches, princes, and kisses,so bored and fed up, or just ready to flop,upped and left home for a fairy tale swap.What happens when Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Rapunzel get so fed up with their fairy tales that they decide to switch places with one another? Hilarity ensues in this clever, rhyming story about whether the grass really is greener at someone else's castle.Author Stephanie Clarkson crafts an incredibly witty manuscript, with rhymes that shine and predicaments that will make little girls everywhere laugh out loud, as illustrator Brigette Barrager brings these beautiful princesses to life with her rich, warm colors and charming retro-girl style!