Omar On Ice
Written and Illustrated by:Maryann Kovalski
Recommended for ages: 3-8
Fitzhenry and Whiteside $8.95

This lovely picture book is ideal for budding artists or for that matter, any child who needs a little boost in the self-esteem department. Omar is a bear who, more than anything, loves to draw. That is, until one day at school his teacher, Ms. Fudge mistakes a drawing of his Omar’s mother for a rock. This made Omar unhappy and he began to doubt his drawing ability. Despite his peers’ encouraging words, Omar truly felt that he was a terrible artist.

At recess, when the rest of the class put on their skates and began to whiz around, Omar noticed that Elsie, the best artist in the class, was not such a great skater. When she fell down and became frustrated, Omar appeared at her side and offered a wise suggestion: “You’re trying too hard, the thing about skating is to have fun. It’s easy when you don’t worry.” And off he went, Omar skated fast, he skated slow, forward and backward. He was having so much fun skating that he forgot all about being a bad artist. His classmates stood back and watched as he made beautiful designs on the ice. He discovered that sometimes you just need a different canvas in order to express your creativity!