Tallulah's Ice Skates (Tallulah)

PreS-Gr 2—In the latest book in the series, Tallulah trades in her ballet slippers for ice skates. She cannot wait to go ice skating on Bluegill Pond with her friend Kacie. They will be Super Skaters spinning and jumping just like they do in dance class, after all ice skating is just dancing on ice. Tallulah knows her red skirt will look amazing as she twirls around. But when Kacie is content just bunny hop, Tallulah goes off to be a Super Skater on her own. After an encounter with an experienced boy skater, Tallulah tries a jump that result in a big fall that severely injures nothing but her pride. Back at the pond the next day she isn't so eager to get back on the ice. When Skater Boy asks her if she's going to practice her spin, it's Kacie who reminds her that they practice all the time, ice skating is just for fun. Happily the two of them bunny hop their way across the ice yelling "Whee" the whole time. Boiger's watercolor illustrations are familiar from the previous Tallulah books and contain a diverse cast of characters. Her use of blue tones for the background and plenty of white space effectively gives the cold feeling of winter and allows the brightly colored clothing of the children to pop. VERDICT Tallulah learns that sometimes having fun is more important than being super at something. Sure to be a hit where the Tallulah series is popular, but also works well as a stand-alone.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH