Henry Holton Takes the Ice

Henry Holton Takes the Ice by Sandra Bradley Illustrated by Sara Palacios

Overview: Henry Holton comes from a family of hockey lovers. Everyone in his family has played hockey, from his grandma to his cousins. For some reason, Henry isn't into hockey like the rest of his family. One day, his mom and him see a flyer for a figure skating event and they decide to attend. After the event, Henry decided that he too wants to be a figure skater but first he has to convince his family.

Target Audience: Children who enjoy sports, particularly hockey or dancing.

Reading Level (according to amazon.com):

Age Range 5-8 years

Lexile Measure AD570L

Overall Rating 29/32 (based on rubric above):

-I gave the book a 1/4 in Diversity because all of the characters in the book were caucasian and had mainstream lives. There was no characters with diversity in gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, economic status, family structure or religion. There was opportunities for the author/illustrator to incorporate diverse characters even if it wasn't in Henrys own family.

-I thought the book had a very relatable theme for students, often times society and families try to put children in boxes based on their gender. In the book, Henry was expected to play hockey because of his family history but when he expressed he was interested in figure skating his family was hesitant and his sister told him that figure skating was for girls. As we grow up we are taught that certain activities are only for a certain gender and we eventually conform but Henry teaches children that they should do what they are interested in regardless of gender.

Literary Elements:

Title & Subtitle

Climax

Conflict

 Bradley, S., & Palacios, S. (2015). Henry Holton takes the ice. New York, NY: Penguin Group.