A is for Axel: An Ice Skating Alphabet (Sports Alphabet) - Hardcover

Browning, Kurt

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1585362808 ISBN 13: 9781585362806

Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press, 2005

Synopsis

Four-time World Champion and professional figure skater Kurt Browning replaces his boots and blades with pen and paper in A is for Axel: An Ice Skating Alphabet. From holding an edge to laces and hooks, Kurt glides and dances through the alphabet explaining the history, techniques, and memorable moments of the sport. Spirited illustrator Melanie Rose captures the excitement visually with her colorful, playful illustrations. With the Winter Olympics spinning our way in 2006, this book will have fans young and old dreaming of gold. Author Kurt Browning is known for his fluid movement and confidence on the ice. A four-time world champion, Kurt is the first figure skater to be named as Canada's outstanding male athlete. He presently skates professionally with Stars on Ice and lives in Toronto, Ontario with his wife and son. Illustrator Melanie Rose's charming and lively oil paintings have graced the pages of several Sleeping Bear Press titles including Z is for Zamboni: A Hockey Alphabet; H is for Homerun: A Baseball Alphabet; and W is for Wind: A Weather Alphabet. She makes her home in Mississauga, Canada, with her son Liam and their two cats, Mickey and Meesha.

About this title

About the Author:

Known for his fluid movement and confidence on the ice, four-time world champion figure skater Kurt Browning spins, jumps, and glides his way through the alphabet with A is for Axel: An Ice Skating Alphabet. Kurt was the first figure skater to be named as Canada's outstanding male athlete, was honored by Sports Illustrated as one of the 50 greatest sports figures from Canada, and is a member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Completing the first quadruple jump in competition earned Kurt his way into the Guinness Book of Records. Kurt presently skates professionally with Stars on Ice and lives in Toronto with his wife and son.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-4–The popular and successful Canadian figure skater gives readers a great deal of information about skating technique and equipment. As an alphabet book, it works reasonably well with the exception of a few weak word choices (e.g., N is for Needs more practice...And Never give up.... and Y is for You. There's a typo for the letter Q: The rink becomes a blur,/your spinning now don't quit. The colorful, realistic oil paintings are the book's best feature. The reading level varies as this is almost two books in one. The rhyming text giving the alphabet is appropriate for K-3 level, while the majority of the text in the sidebars is about a grade three and up reading level in rather small type. Add this to your collection as an extra purchase for your skating fans, not as a first choice. Or you may prefer Naia Bray-Moffatt's Ice Skating School (DK, 2004) or Debbi Wilkes's The Figure Skating Book (Firefly, 2000).–Kate Kohlbeck, Randall School, Waukesha, WI
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About this edition

• Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1585362808
• ISBN 13: 9781585362806
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Rose Melanie