Cover Image

Sebastian's roller skates

by Prats, Joan de Déu.

Format: Print Book 2005
Availability: Available at 2 Libraries 3 of 3 copies

Available (3)
Location Collection Call #
Green Tree Public Library Children's Easy E SPO PRA
Location  Green Tree Public Library
 
Collection  Children's Easy
 
Call Number  E SPO PRA
 
 
Shaler North Hills Library Juvenile Picture Book j PICT BK PRA
Location  Shaler North Hills Library
 
Collection  Juvenile Picture Book
 
Call Number  j PICT BK PRA
 
 
Shaler North Hills Library Juvenile Picture Book j PICT BK PRA
Location  Shaler North Hills Library
 
Collection  Juvenile Picture Book
 
Call Number  j PICT BK PRA
 
 

Summary
Sebastian didn't talk very much, even though he had a lot to say. He wanted to tell the barber not to make his head look like a billiard ball. He wanted to tell the neighbors that he hadn't grown all that much. And he wanted to ask Ester, the little girl who sat in front of him at school, if she wanted to be friends. But he couldn't. He couldn't say any of those things. Sebastian was shy. He was very shy. And then one day he finds an old pair of roller skates in the park. Roller skating is hard to learn, but if you practice, and practice, and practice, and then if you forget about worrying, and forget about falling and just skate, well, everything changes. And sometimes if you forget about worrying and forget about blushing and just talk, well, everything changes again. Children and adults alike will find that this award-winning picture book has a lot to say both about recognizing who you are, and who you'd like to be.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "PreS-Gr. 2. This picture book from Spain features Sebastian, a boy so shy that he can barely whisper a word to his apartment-house neighbors, his barber, or even his teacher. Inside his head, though, he has plenty to say. Finding a pair of roller skates abandoned in the park, he tries skating but goes so slowly that he stumbles from one place to the next. When he catches hold of a runaway dog's leash and takes a wild ride though the park, Sebastian is spurred to overcome his hesitancy in skating and, even better, in speaking to those around him. His happiness shines from his face and from the collage of images that represent his words and thoughts. First in shades of gray and later in brilliant colors, the collage elements imaginatively express what Sebastian is feeling as well as what he is saying. The universality of Sebastian's experience ensures that this pleasing picture book, translated from the original Catalan, will resonate with children on this side of the Atlantic. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2005 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "Sebastian may have a couple of spills as he learns to roller skate, but this tale from a Spanish team never takes a misstep. The young hero's shyness stops him from saying all he wants to, and from approaching his schoolmate Ester (she "had curly hair and eyes the color of honey"). A pair of roller skates he finds in a park fascinates him, and as Sebastian masters this new skill, he also finds the courage to say more. Rovira's confident caricature-style human figures all share the same wide-open eyes and stubby, squared-off noses; by contrast, he distinguishes objects in minute details, with addresses lettered on packing boxes and bulletin boards crowded with drawings and announcements. The artist has great fun rendering the story of Sebastian's interior life, gluing a dense trail of dreary black-and-white newspaper scraps above Sebastian's head to signal his trapped thoughts in the opening scenes, then scattering brilliantly colored scraps and photographs as the boy brims with opinions he says aloud: "And this time I don't want my head to look like a billiard ball!" he tells the barber. He even invites Ester to go skating. Sebastian's transformation emerges naturally, rather than from methods or techniques. He discovers the skates, practices hard and persistently, and his new abilities unfold on their own. Shy readers may well emerge with the feeling that change is indeed possible. Ages 5-9. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Roller skating -- Juvenile fiction.
Bashfulness -- Juvenile fiction.
Roller skating -- Fiction.
Bashfulness -- Fiction.
Publisher La Jolla, CA :Kane/Miller,2005
Edition 1st American ed.
Contributors Rovira, Francesc.
Language English
Description 32 pages : color illustrations ; 23 x 28 cm
ISBN 1929132816 (trade bdg.)
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