Henry Holton Takes the Ice Hardcover – January 2, 2015

Have purchased this book many times as gifts and for classrooms to have examples of nontraditional gender roles and identities and interests after seeing Ray Romano read it for StoryTime Online. Very affirming and positive.

Love the book, but we paid a lot of money for a NEW book, and the one we recieved is definitely not new! Very disappointing.

Most awesome book! My kids love it.

Summary: Henry Holton’s family loves hockey so much that the kids teethe on hockey pucks, their dog is named Gretzky and the mom drives a Zamboni to work. It’s a foregone conclusion that Henry will put on a pair of skates as soon as he can walk. When he does, sure enough, he is a fabulous skater. But the whole hockey thing feels wrong to him, and he can’t figure out why until the day he sees a poster for an ice dance show. From then on, all he wants is skates with toe picks. No one will listen to him until his grandmother (six-time MVP in the Silver Skates League) shows him a picture of her figure skating. She gave it all up the first time she picked up a hockey stick and knew that was the thing for her. She gives Henry her old skates to try. When his parents see him, they know he is destined to be a figure skater.Pros: A fun story for the hockey-obsessed youth of Massachusetts, all about being true to yourself. The part about his grandmother giving up figure skating for hockey was a great and unexpected twist.Cons: A little bit predictable.

Learning who you are is always hard. Even more so when you feel like you don't fit in even with your family. The Holtons are all hockey nuts, except for Henry, for whom it just doesn't click. What DOES click? The sight of a figure skater. He wants that. He NEEDS that! But how can he convince his hockey family to get him the pick-toed shoes he craves, and the chance to fly on the ice?I could certainly see some people getting angry over this book for making Henry interested in the "feminine" activity of figure skating, but it's never presented as an activity of gender. The rest of the Holtons, male and female, are hockey players, so it's more shown as finding your individuality, in spite of your family, not in spite of sex and gender.Still, it's a great message for any kid looking to defy stereotypes. If you know what you want, don't let society or family stand in the way.This does seem to me more like a library borrow than a purchase, though. Still, if your little one likes it, go ahead and buy.

I love this book (which is good because I have to read it EVERY night). The story is SO cute, easy to follow, with some interesting words and concepts that are appropriate and challanging for a 3.5 year old.It is a pleasure to read because the illustrations are BEAUTIFUL, the family and characters are likeable, and there is a great moral to the story about being who you are despite pressure to conform.

What a beautiful engaging book this is to read to my grandchildren! We all loved it!!

My class

Great condition, love LOVE LOVE the book. My sons favorite. Great message!

Awesome story, and artwork!