Arief Putra – illustratör

In this adventure picture book that reinforces a child''s self-esteem, father of four and New York Times bestselling author Dave Hollis draws on the themes of his popular video series "Teatime with Noah" to help kids believe in themselves, have courage, and chase after their dreams.

The story begins with one of Daddy and Noah''s beloved father-daughter tea parties, as Daddy encourages young Noah to follow her dreams. Young readers will delight to see the tea party transform into a fantastical adventure as Noah discovers that she wants to be a ship captain. But soon everything goes wrong. Noah doesn''t know how to be a captain, and she doesn''t even have a ship! When she starts to build her own, things go from bad to worse. Through each hardship, Daddy guides Noah, empowering her to ride the waves of life with courage.

With vivid illustrations from Arief Putra and whimsical rhymes, Here''s to Your Dreams!

With a fun and entertaining style, Dave Hollis tells a rollicking adventure story that encourages boys and girls to believe in themselves, not be afraid to make mistakes, and use their gifts--because nothing is out of their reach.

This story is part of Reading Champion, a series carefully linked to book bands to encourage independent reading skills, developed with Dr Sue Bodman and Glen Franklin of UCL Institute of Education (IOE)Reading Champion offers independent reading books for children to practise and reinforce their developing reading skills.Fantastic, original stories are accompanied by engaging artwork and a reading activity. Each book has been carefully graded so that it can be matched to a child's reading ability, encouraging reading for pleasure.

In her first book for children, Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan shares scenes from her childhood as she learns how to work hard, believe in herself, and to land her first axel jump.

“A spirited autobiographical story”—Publishers Weekly

“Straightforward inspiration for very young audiences.”—School Library Journal

Nancy (age 8) and her family sacrifice time, money, and effort into her clear skill, talent, and passion for figure skating. She’s really good at it, but money is tight while she’s learning to land the hardest of figure skating jumps – the axel. And she must be able to do one in order to go to her first competition.

Her skates are too small, her feet hurt, but try after try, she gets up off the ice and takes another turn around the ice until she finally lands that first (wobbly) axel and then lands it solidly at her first competition.

Persistence, hard work, and the importance of believing in yourself are highlighted in this story from the earliest moments of Nancy Kerrigan’s figure skating career.

From the author’s note:

From the earliest moments in my skating career, I faced obstacle after obstacle. But I kept trying. Every time I fell, I got back up. Every time I failed, I tried again. Every time someone told me no, I kept working until I earned a yes…. Eventually, I learned that I had more strength within me than I ever realized. And here’s great news—you’re stronger than you think, too.