Let’s go! Experience the magic of skating on wild ice.
Two children wake up to hear the lake singing, then the wind begins wailing … or is it a wolf? They bundle up and venture out into the cold, carrying their skates. On the snow-covered shore, they spot tracks made by fox, deer, hare, mink, otter … and the wolf! In the bay, the ice is thick and smooth. They lace up their skates, step onto the ice, stroking and gliding, and the great lake sings again.
In her signature poetic style, Jean E. Pendziwol describes the exhilarating experience of skating on the wild ice of Lake Superior, including the haunting singing that occurs as the ice expands and contracts. Accompanied by Todd Stewart’s breathtaking illustrations, this book will make us all long to skate wild!
Key Text Features
illustrations
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
Let’s go! Experience the magic of skating on wild ice.
Two children wake up to hear the lake singing, then the wind begins wailing … or is it a wolf? They bundle up and venture out into the cold, carrying their skates. On the snow-covered shore, they spot tracks made by fox, deer, hare, mink, otter … and the wolf! In the bay, the ice is thick and smooth. They lace up their skates, step onto the ice, stroking and gliding, and the great lake sings again.
In her signature poetic style, Jean E. Pendziwol describes the exhilarating experience of skating on the wild ice of Lake Superior, including the haunting singing that occurs as the ice expands and contracts. Accompanied by Todd Stewart’s breathtaking illustrations, this book will make us all long to skate wild!
Key Text Features
illustrations
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
Published By | Groundwood Books Ltd — Oct 3, 2023 |
Specifications | 32 pages | 9.5 in x 11.5 in |
Keywords | Great Lakes; cold weather; siblings; finding joy; fitness and exercise; great outdoors; habitats and ecosystems; living systems; winter sports; discovery and adventure; vivid setting; independence; |
Written By |
JEAN E. PENDZIWOL’S highly acclaimed picture books include When I Listen to Silence, illustrated by Carmen Mok; I Found Hope in a Cherry Tree, illustrated by Nathalie Dion; Me and You and the Red Canoe, illustrated by Phil; and Once Upon a Northern Night, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award). She lives in Northwestern Ontario on the shores of Lake Superior. |
Illustrated by |
TODD STEWART is an illustrator and printmaker. His debut picture book, The Wind in the Trees (Quand le vent souffle), was a finalist for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award. He has also illustrated Flow, Spin, Grow by Patchen Barss and See You Next Year by Andrew Larsen, among other titles. Todd’s screen-printed art has been shown in public and private exhibitions across Canada. He lives in Montreal, Quebec. |
Written By |
JEAN E. PENDZIWOL’S highly acclaimed picture books include When I Listen to Silence, illustrated by Carmen Mok; I Found Hope in a Cherry Tree, illustrated by Nathalie Dion; Me and You and the Red Canoe, illustrated by Phil; and Once Upon a Northern Night, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award). She lives in Northwestern Ontario on the shores of Lake Superior. |
Illustrated by |
TODD STEWART is an illustrator and printmaker. His debut picture book, The Wind in the Trees (Quand le vent souffle), was a finalist for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award. He has also illustrated Flow, Spin, Grow by Patchen Barss and See You Next Year by Andrew Larsen, among other titles. Todd’s screen-printed art has been shown in public and private exhibitions across Canada. He lives in Montreal, Quebec. |
Audience | ages 3 and up / grades P and up |
Key Text Features | Illustrations |
Common Core | CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 |
Striking, light- and shadow-filled winter landscapes by Stewart accompany evocative prose poetry by Pendziwol in this engrossing picture book. STARRED REVIEW
” —Publishers WeeklyPendziwol writes evocatively about the immense and imposing lake and the sounds the ice makes vibrating under the children’s feet as they skate … [Stewart's] technique of drawing digitally, editing in Photoshop, and adding textures with scanned screens gives the book a vibrant and often majestic feel.
” —Horn BookPendziwol’s lyrical prose hums harmoniously with Stewart’s textured landscape screen printing, immersing readers into a wintry wonderland of a reading experience … This breathtaking picture book will capture the beating hearts of explorers and ice skaters with a wondrous surprise at the end.
” —Bulletin of the Center for Children's BooksA beautiful winter adventure … The illustrations in the book are different and simple yet radiant.
” —Children's Literature Comprehensive DatabaseA poetical celebration of skating on Lake Superior.
” —Globe and MailCaptures the joys of the winter season.
” —Montreal GazetteAn astonishing, poetic picture book ... Inspiring shivers from the splendour of the cold, the book shines a light on the wonders of winter.
” —Quill & QuireIt’s rare to find a children’s book in prose as captivating as this … The illustrations are as attractive as the writing style. Stewart’s hand captures the stark beauty of a winter’s morning and the hushed majesty of rising light. To look at this book is to feel the sting of winter in your lungs and the wet kiss of condensation collecting in a scarf.
” —Montreal Review of Books