Last night, I stayed up to watch ice dancing on the Olympics.  To me, ice dancing is a picture of what two souls are experiencing while falling in love.  Each ice dance is like watching a romantic movie condensed into a couple of minutes.

I felt this beauty when I was a little girl, and the only way I could express it was to say I was going to marry a figure skater someday.  (We didn’t have and ice rink in our small town, so I couldn’t learn to skate myself.)  I wasn’t too far off, as I ended up falling in love with an ice hockey player. 

Watching my husband glide across the ice with grace and confidence still melts my heart.  Sometimes he skates backwards, grabs my hands, and I feel the wind in my face.  Even though all I can manage to do on skates is to stay upright, for a brief moment, led by him, I’m floating across the ice as if in a dream.

There is an excellent picture book about ice skating that would be a joy for you to share with your little dreamers this time of year.  Callie Cat, Ice Skater by Eileen Spinelli has it all!  Have you ever wished for a frozen pond right outside your door?  You can experience the magic of it in this book.  Have you ever wanted a pair of white figure skates?  Callie laces them up in one of Anne Kennedy’s delightful illustrations.  How about a moonlight skate?  Eileen Spinelli’s beautiful language will send you soaring in the pale light.  She expertly weaves in a bit of friend drama, a humorous competition, and a gentle moral.  The book transcends the sport of ice skating and ends up imparting wisdom all children (and grown-ups) need to absorb.    

Happy reading, dreaming, and skating!  (The women’s figure skating begins tonight!)