Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Skaters and wanna-bes will get hours of pleasure from studying the gorgeous pictures, reading the stories, and poring over the records of currently prominent people in the rarefied atmosphere of the world of figure skating. Readers meet the top competitors from around the world in all four divisions: ice dancing, pairs, and men's and women's singles; the inclusion of the up-and-comers will give the book a longer shelf life. Each skater or pair is given one or two full pages (three for Michelle Kwan, who also graces the cover), which include at least one large photo of the athletes in performance and several paragraphs about their career. Each individual's date of birth, hometown, training site, coach, and choreographer are also supplied. A few American stars are missing, e.g., Sasha Cohen and Jenny Kirk, in favor of some obscure European national champions, but never mind-teens will love this book.
Judy McAloon, Potomac Library, Prince William County, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This overview of international figure-skating champions combines author Milton's brief biographical sketches with photographer Gerard Chataigneau's striking four-color photos. Of limited reference value--the bios read much like press releases--the book will be enjoyed primarily by browsers, although students writing reports will find essential facts about who won what when. It is the photos, though, that will draw skating fans. Shooting ice skaters in action is no easy trick for a photographer because skating is so fluid a sport, but Chataigneau manages to freeze such stars as Nancy Kwan at their most balletic. The ice dancers come off worse than the figure skaters because their dramatic gestures, when frozen on film, often look posed and pompous. Still, Chataigneau is a skilled photographer, and his images are carefully composed to show both physical grace and emotional intensity. A visual treat for those who follow the sport. Leon Wagner
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved.

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Product Details Paperback: 128 pages Publisher: Firefly Books; 2nd edition (September 6, 2003) Language: English