Skating Wild on an Inland Sea by Jean E. Pendziwol (review)

Reviewed by: Skating Wild on an Inland Sea by Jean E. Pendziwol Danica Ronquillo Pendziwol, Jean E. Skating Wild on an Inland Sea; illus. by Todd Stewart. Groundwood, 2023 [32p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781773067049 $19.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781773067056 $16.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* 4-7 yrs Lake Superior sings its morning winter song as two children prepare to head out into the cold, dressing up in their winter clothes, picking up their ice skates, and stepping outside to take in the view of the frozen lake breathing: "Sea smoke rises, hovers above the surface, tumbling and turning—a fortress of fog." While walking [End Page 66] down the trails together, their eyes trace the animal tracks on the snow-covered shore, from foxes and hares to deer, and a pair of ravens perch on top of a tree as the children lace their skates and slide across the wild ice. Pendziwol's lyrical prose hums harmoniously with Stewart's textured landscape screen printing, immersing readers into a wintry wonderland of a reading experience. The colors of blue and orange shimmer over the lake and cast intricate shadows of the wilderness, and the hues gradually shift to gold and white throughout the book to depict the passing of time as the children traverse the wilderness. A variety of thin and thick linework adds texture to the bare trees and depth to the cracks and skating strokes on the ice, while figurative language and the use of aerial and vanishing perspectives portray the beauty of the vast inland sea, which "hums a haunted melody, / the song of water / held captive by winter, / mysterious magical music / as old as the earth." This breathtaking picture book will capture the beating hearts of explorers and ice skaters with a wondrous surprise at the end. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois