Best Figure Skater in the Whole Wide World, The - Hardcover

Linda Bailey is an award-winning author of many books for children, including Goodnight Sweet Pig, Stanley?s Party, the Stevie Diamond Mysteries, and the Good Times Travel Agency series. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

reS-Gr 2-Lizzy's ambitious dream is to be a champion figure skater. She practices her twirls and lutzes around the living room while watching the performers on TV. On the first day of lessons, though, Lizzy sees that figure skating is very difficult and continually falls on her bottom, but resolves to practice, practice, practice. And she does. When the teacher announces the class will skate the story of Snow White, the child is tearfully disappointed to be cast as one of the trees, a role that requires very little movement and more of a standing-still pose. However, on the day of the performance, her exuberance comes through as she leads her fellow trees in a creative ice-dance sequence at the close of the show. Bailey deftly portrays the ambition, desire, disappointment, and creative solution to a common setback. Lizzy's character is visually drawn through expressive, muted gouache illustrations, highlighting her various emotional reactions. In addition, classmates are depicted as a multiethnic group with varied skating abilities. A nice addition to picture-book collections.

Rita Soltan, Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MI

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