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Callie Cat loves to ice skate more than anything in the world.
She skates on weekend mornings and weekday evenings.
Her friends try to interest her in other activities, but she just loves to skate.
When her friends hear about the Honeybrook Ice Skating Contest they convince her to enter. Her parents are quietly supportive, but her friends push her to train and win.
She skates well on the day of the contest, but does not win. Alone on the ice the next morning, Callie realizes that that “the melting sweetness” she feels when she skates “came from doing what she loved. Came not from winning but from doing”.
This lovely story features many personified animals as friends, skaters, spectators. The detailed illustrations, in soft pastel hues tell the story without the words, and bring the motion of Callie’s skating alive. From the looks on her friend’s faces, you can read the pressure they feel to have Callie win. Her expressions while skating turn from happy to strained. Occasionally there are some bright pinks in the drawings, but the only red belongs to Callie’s red sweater, red shoes, and the red rose in her hair as she competes. The text on each page is brief, with the drawings filling the page. This would be a wonderful read-a-loud, a story about how doing what you love is its own reward. ( )