I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
I really, REALLY need actual ice skates
by
Bridget Hurst, Lauren Child
It is part of the Charlie & Lola series and is a picture book in Hardcover edition that was published by Dial Books for Young Readers on November 11, 2010 and has 32 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Illustrator: Tiger Aspect
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Help! I really mean it!
A standalone in the Charlie and Lola picture book series for young children and revolving around a brother and sister and the vicissitude of children.
My Take
Lol, Lola’s reactions are very much that of an excitable child with all that want, want, want. It’s Charlie who comes across as being more mature when he points out Lola’s past wants! But…truly…this new want will work miracles. Really.
The dialogue is fun, and Child makes good use of funking up the font to convey the kids’ excitement. The character graphics are primitive with lots of charm, and Aspect does take pains with texturing everything.
As for those dream graphics with Lola fantasizing about the silver skates and the silver-balled antennae? They are a hoot.
The perspective is via an uninvolved onlooker — a third-person objective point-of-view — who tells the story in a neutral, objective, unbiased manner without relating any of the character’s thoughts, opinions, or feelings — just the facts, ma’am — only what is seen or heard.
As for the story being “a wintertime delight”, I’d get more of a sense of winter if there were snow. Green grass and playing on scooters does not make for a wintry feel.
The important part is that the story encapsulates child wants and the aftermath of receiving it. We’ve all been there…and who hasn’t expected, hoped, desired, to be the very best? I will grant that Lola does find a way around her disappointment, lol. Although…that last page…
The Story
When Lola goes ice-skating with her friend Morten, she absolutely and extremely must have her own skates so she can be the very bestest skater in the whole school.
But Charlie reminds her that her guitar and yo-yo — which she really, really wanted — ended up unused in the closet, but she is certain this time is different.
Will Lola still be enthusiastic when skating turns out to be trickier and more wobbly-er than it looks?
The Characters
Lola is small and funny, and Charlie is her bigger brother. They get along very well.
Marv, Morten, Evie, and Lotta are friends.
The Cover and Title
The cover is the chill of all that blue ice with the white swirls of skates that have crossed its surface with a spotlight on Charlie and Lola in their winter gear and skates, lighting up a circle around them, reversing the blue with the white. In the upper right of the circle are those glittery silver skates that will make Lola a star. A smaller white oval in the upper left provides series information while the title is in a deep navy in an assortment of fonts within the spotlit ice and between the siblings. A pale green band of deeper ice?? crosses the bottom, grounding the picture. There are three snowflakes falling in it with credit for the original stories.
The title is Lola’s plaint: “I really, REALLY need actual ice skates.”
