In a sweet rhyming tale, a young child’s first skating adventure on a frozen pond ends with a cozy bedtime story. Tap and step, then slide and turn. Whoops! Fall down. That’s how we learn. On a brisk winter’s day, the frozen pond is crisscrossed by figure skaters, hockey players, new skaters, and old pros, all gliding across the ice. It’s time to bundle up, lace your skates, and give it a try — then head inside for cocoa and snacks when your cheeks grow rosy and your toes are cold. Back at home, warm bedtime rituals make for the end of a perfect day. But when darkness falls at the pond, who will come out to skate?

As a sport, an art, a fitness activity, nothing quite beats figure skating for excitement, grace, beauty, or fun. Now former U.S. Champion figure skater John Misha Petkevich shows how you can find your full potential as a figure skater no matter what your age or ability. The lavishly illustrated volume includes: Detailed instructional-photo sequences What to look for in skates, clothing, rinks, and instruction Getting started 6 basic turns that every figure skater should know 15 spins that you can master The keys to preforming 19 clasic figure skating jumps and splits

Now there's a masterfully written guide that shows beginning and recreational skaters the fundamental skills of ice skating. In Ice Skating: Steps to Success, Karin K "nzle-Watson--nine-time Swiss National Champion, former Professional World Champion, and one of skating's best instructors--shares with readers the steps that she and many of her students learned on their way to becoming elite competitive skaters. Most instruction books available on ice skating tend to focus on advanced jumps or spins, assuming the reader will learn the basics through professional instruction. Ice Skating: Steps to Success, however, covers fundamental skills in a way that's easy to understand and apply. Part of the highly popular Steps to Success Series, this book includes 11 steps (chapters) that progress from basic to intermediate skills. It features over 300 illustrations that make it possible to learn proper form and technique. Readers will learn how to: - attain the posture and control required for basic skills; - use standard methods of gaining forward and backward speed; - execute four different methods of stopping; - fall properly and get up easily; - change direction without loss of control; and - control the skate edges in order to prepare for advanced maneuvers, including jumps, spins, and footwork. With Ice Skating: Steps to Success, beginning and recreational skaters will develop a solid foundation of skills to help them gain confidence in their abilities and enjoy the sport more.

This mouse doesn’t want to stay in the house . . . even if it’s cold outside! For most field mice, winter means burrowing down and snuggling in. But not for Lucy! She loves snow crunching under her paws and wearing a fluffy wool hat. And most of all, Lucy loves to skate, and she’s just ACHING to show off her new skill with her friends. After all, a winter wonderland is twice as nice when you have friends to enjoy it with. But the other mice just don’t understand—and after a disastrous indoor snowball fight, it looks as if they never will. Can Lucy find a way to make the other mice come out and “mice skate” too? With intricately detailed illustrations as cozy as a fireplace in December (and a cup of cocoa, too), this funny punny warmhearted love song to winter—and to one brave, bold, and generous mouse—will have kids bundling up for some cold-weather fun of their own.

Inspire kids of all ages to never give up and always dream big with Dream Big Little Pig, the New York Times bestselling ice skating picture book from Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi! Poppy is a pig with big dreams. She wants to be a star! But she soon discovers that's not as easy as it sounds. It's only when Poppy feels the magic of gliding and sliding, swirling and twirling on ice that she truly believes in herself: Poppy, star of the rink! Dream Big Little Pig is the perfect book to inspire little girls with big dreams. It makes a wonderful ice skating gift for girls!

Figure skating is the most beautiful and mysterious of all sports. When the skaters are on the ice, every twitch of a muscle and every slip of a skate blade is visible for the world to see. In Inside Edge, Christine Brennan chronicles—for the first time—a season on the skating circuit, intimately portraying the lives, on and off the ice, of the sport's current and upcoming stars. Woven into the narrative are stories of figure skating luminaries—including Peggy Fleming, Janet Lynn, Katarina Witt, Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi, Nancy Kerrigan, Oksana Baiul, Michelle Kwan, Rudy Galindo, and Tara Lipinski. Revealing the backstage conflicts high-profile figure skaters face, and the ambition that drives them, Brennan also tells the stories of their families, of improbable rises to the top, and of wasted talents. If skaters are perfect, they can become international heroes. But if they fall, if they miss a three-revolution jump on a quarter-inch blade of steel, the despair is theirs alone. This is their life on the edge, where decades of training culminate in little more than four crucial minutes on the ice. There is no other sport like it. There is no other story like theirs.

E. L. Shen's The Comeback is a heartfelt middle-grade debut about a young Chinese American girl trying to be a champ—in figure skating and in life. Twelve-year-old Maxine Chen is just trying to nail that perfect landing: on the ice, in middle school, and at home, where her parents worry that competitive skating is too much pressure for a budding tween. Maxine isn’t concerned, however—she’s determined to glide to victory. But then a bully at school starts teasing Maxine for her Chinese heritage, leaving her stunned and speechless. And at the rink, she finds herself up against a stellar new skater named Hollie, whose grace and skill threaten to edge Maxine out of the competition. With everything she knows on uneven ice, will Maxine crash under the pressure? Or can she power her way to a comeback? Set in Lake Placid, New York, this is a spunky yet stirring middle-grade story that examines racism, female rivalry and friendship, and the enduring and universal necessity of love and support.

Ruby wants to do a figure eight, but she can't quite master the technique. Max wants to play hockey with the big bunnies, although he can barely skate. In the end, Ruby finds the trick to perfecting a figure eight-saving your brother from a pack of charging hockey players.

Travel on a wonderful journey with skating author, figure skating competitor, skating coach, and skating parent, Jo Ann Schneider Farris. Learn everything and anything about skating as you travel through Jo Ann's skating life. In addition to reading Jo Ann's story, purchasers of the digital edition of MY SKATING LIFE can also enjoy embedded links, articles, photos, and videos that will take the reader on more wonderful skating adventures. The photos in the digital edition are in color and can be enlarged and enjoyed. This edition of MY SKATING LIFE includes a thorough index put together by indexing professional Ellen Phillips. Happy Skating!