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. 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. 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 Authors

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.

Melanie Rose's charming and lively oil paintings brought Canada vividly to life in Mike Ulmer's M is for Maple: A Canadian Alphabet. She has also illustrated Z is for Zamboni: A Hockey Alphabet and K is for Kick: A Soccer Alphabet. A graduate of the Ontario College of Art, Melanie lives in Mississauga, Canada, with her son.

Reviews

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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Edition details

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