With the Winter Olympics underway, I knew I wanted to share my love of figure skating with my daughter.
I knew she would love the Grace,elegance, and pageantry of it all. We watched some of the semi-finals and she absolutely loved it. I knew I would blow her mind by showing her the infamous backflip by Surya Bonaly.
So I did. Her mouth gaped open and her eyes widen when she saw the backflip. She was speechless.
The bookish Mom in me kicked in and I wanted to keep this momentum, so I purchased the picture book, Fearless Heart: An Illustrated Biography of Surya Bonaly by Frank Murphy with Surya Bonaly and Art by Anastasia Magloire Williams. I read this book to my three children and they were very engaged and loved it. I have actually read it several times and this book review is a little delayed because it has been our bedtime story for the past week.
SUMMARY:
FEARLESS HEART: AN ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY OF SURYA BONALY is follows the life of famous ice skater, Surya Bonaly. Surya Bonaly was born in Nic, France and adopted by Suzanne and Gorges Bonaly when she was 18 months old. She started ice skating as a small child and wanted to be a champion. She practiced and worked really hard and she started be a champion. She dominated and was a French and European champion. However, her hard work and uniqueness was not also celebrated. She experienced racism on the world stage. However, this did not deter her, she combined her strength, power and perfected her grace. The haters would not be able to not acknowledge how great she truly is. This hard work finally paid off in front of the world at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
SURYA MADE HISTORY BY LANDING A BACKFLIP ON ONE SKATE and FIRST PLACE.
REVIEW:
I highly recommend this book. It is beautifully written with words that truly craft and characterize her experiences throughout her life. It feels like a love letter and artistic poem and not a biography. I really enjoyed reading it and my children loved it too. My toddler asks to read “the ice skating” book before nap time. The story deals with the range of emotions from pride, to sadness, and ends with triumph. Given this rollercoaster of emotions, it makes such a great read and even better read aloud. It is a book that you will fall into and really has you routing for Surya to win but you are wondering while you are reading, will she ever win and when she does, you will be so excited. The illustrations in this book are magical and really compliment and elevate the reading experience. I also loved how the words were not just written text but crafted around and within the illustrations. It provide an extra touch for the story. Overall, this picture book is really well written, illustrated, and woven together phenomenally.
This book is a great example for children to keep working hard despite any obstacles. Surya faced racism and used that to motivate her to be the best. She is a wonderful role model and example that children should follow. Make sure to pick this book up at your local bookstores or you can pick up a copy here.
Here is a video compilation of my kids first time on the ice. Enjoy!
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Hope you will enjoy this book as much as we did!
Enjoy
Maya
Maya Claros is a Domestic Engineer of 3, children’s books lover, super science geek, Hip Hop connoisseur, and small business owner. You can find her here or at www.thedopekid.com
