Obed, Ellen Bryan. Twelve Kinds of Ice.

Obed, Ellen Bryan.  Twelve Kinds of Ice.  Houghton Mifflin  2012  61p  ISBN 978-0-618-89129-0  elem  Hardback  VG-BN      Realistic fiction

Students who enjoy the winter and snow will appreciate this new title featuring twenty short chapters outlining a Maine family’s first ice to dream ice.  Each chapter’s text reads like a poem that enables readers to visualize what the ice really looks like.  From the season’s first sights of ice to thicker, more non-breakable ice, readers tag along on this family’s adventures of ice skating in various locations, including the stream, the garden, Bryan Gardens, and the pasture.  Beautifully illustrated with black-and-white pictures, this book shows students just how much fun a family can have in the winter on ice.  From skating at the rink to attending skating parties and ice shows, what student wouldn’t want to engage in such activity?  Students who live in states that experience winter can reminisce about their own experiences with ice; however, those who live in states that don’t experience winter may actually envy this family.

The book is beautifully illustrated with black-and-white (pen and ink) illustrations to help readers visualize the scenes.  For schools that use Accelerated Reader, an existing AR quiz (#154831) is available.  It would make an excellent addition to an elementary collection for casual reading.   

Summary: “From the first ice, a thin skin on a bucket of water, through thickly-iced fields, streams, and gardens, a girl, her family, and friends anticipate and enjoy a winter of skating, ending with an ice show complete with costumes, refreshments, and clowns.”   

Ice-Fiction, Winter-Fiction, Ice-skating-Fiction            --Charleen Forba-Mayer