Lolly on the Ice

When pale-skinned Lolly skates with only her father watching from the sidelines, she’s fearless. “She jumped and glided and spun. She skated like a snowflake in the wind,” Brannen writes, as crisp ink and watercolor illustrations show the child gliding on a frozen pond. But Lolly totally freezes when others catch her in action, relegating her to playing a stationary snowperson in a community skating show. After one of the show’s trio of snowflake dancers is injured, the protagonist musters the courage to volunteer—and discovers that she hasn’t been invisible after all. “I’ve seen you skating,” says one of the dancers. “You’re good.” Donning a sparkly costume, Lolly glides into the spotlight, and she and the other snowflakes “flew over the ice together.” Sometimes finding one’s footing—on or off the ice—this picture book hints, is a matter of stepping forward and giving one’s talents their due. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. (Nov.)