Ready, Set, Skip! - Softcover

Jane O'Connor lives in New York City.

Watching other kids skip on the playground, a little girl longs to do it, too. She catalogs what she can do, from leaping, creeping, and twirling to slurping, burping, and blowing bubbles, but it's just not enough. Soon, with a little encouragement and instruction from her mom ("'Hop on one foot, / then the other. / That is skipping,' / says my mother"), the little girl catches on to the rhythm and finds that she can skip after all. O'Connor, whose credits range from The Emperor's Silent Army (2002) to Fancy Nancy (2006), writes rhyming verse in a way that keeps the text moving lightly along and the focus centered on the child's concern. With economy of line and color, James' expressive drawings capture both the clunkiness and the grace of children's movements while sensitively portraying a wide range of emotions. Celebrating one of those small, unsung rites of passage in childhood, this picture book will certainly encourage other not-yet-skipping kids to give it a try. Phelan, Carolyn