Kiki Kicks
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"I want to be strong for the right reasons."
Kiki has watched her mama practice karate for a long time, and now she wants to learn too. She wants to become strong and steady like a mountain. The bullies at school are strong for the wrong reasons. They make Kiki feel small. But today at her first karate lesson, everything changes.
Award-winning author Jane Yolen joins forces with debut author Ariel Stemple in this picture book about reclaiming strength, confidence, and peace through martial arts. This lyrical story of self-empowerment at a martial arts studio is woven around the poetic lines of Yolen's well-known poem "Karate Kid," used by educators and librarians for decades. Backmatter includes personal notes from the authors about how this story came to be and how martial arts helped save Stemple who was bullied as a child.
Jane Yolen
Jane Yolen is a highly acclaimed author who has written hundreds of books for children and adults and has won numerous awards. She and her husband divide their time between Massachussetts and Scotland.
More by Jane Yolen
Ariel Stemple
Ariel Stemple is an author from Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a bachelor of fine arts degree from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. They come from a family of writers, including Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple. They trained in a martial arts style called wu chien pai for ten years. Kiki Kicks is their debut picture book.
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