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Reviewed by:
  • A Day for Skating by Sarah Sullivan
  • Deborah Stevenson, Editor

Sullivan, Sarah A Day for Skating; illus. by Madeline Valentine. Candlewick, 2019 [32p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-7636-9686-3 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 3-5

"Clear pond, shining ice./ Laced-up skates—check them twice." Yes, it's skating time, as a bundled-up girl joins other well-padded kids out on the local skating pond. Our protagonist takes a spill, gets into the swing of things, enjoys a snack break in the warming hut, and once night falls heads home to a warm bath and a soft bed. This is a lovely winter pastoral that's a tribute to low-impact cold-weather outdoorsmanship, whether it be a friendly pick-up hockey game or just tooling around the ice with friends, and the book perceptively gives plenty of attention to the joys of contrasting spots of warmth. Coziness is the name of the game in the pencil and watercolor illustrations, with lots of feathery snow, fuzzy knits, and soft and friendly faces; the geography of the pond is somewhat inconsistent, but the good time had by all is clearly evident. Real skating experiences may not always be [End Page 188] so idyllic, but this will entice the uncertain out onto the ice (or into the warming hut) and give viewers in warmer climes happily frosty daydreams.

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