Skates!' is a 1973 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats.
Skates! is Keats’s second, nearly wordless, picture book, after Psst! Doggie-, that features animals rather than people as characters. Young readers are encouraged to participate in the action in their own way by the humorous story and engaging illustrations.
Skate or skates may refer to:
Skates are cartilaginous fish belonging to the family Rajidae in the superorder Batoidea of rays. More than 200 species have been described, in 30 genera. The two subfamilies are Rajinae (hardnose skates) and Arhynchobatinae (softnose skates).
Skates have slow growth rates and, since they mature late, low reproductive rates. As a result, skates are vulnerable to overfishing and appear to have been overfished and are suffering reduced population levels in many parts of the world. The barndoor skate, Raja laevis, is currently listed with the IUCN as vulnerable due to being severely overfished. However, population data are lacking to determine the exploitation of the big skate at this time.
When I was younger, a part-time job worker
Department store center, I saw a man enter
He was middle-aged, deep lines on his face
Tight mouth and eyes glazed, eyelids just half-raised
And I looked at him, he looked at me
He looked so sad, I had to see
What did he want, what could it be
What had he been through before me
Seeing him in the store I worked for that year, that year
Ice skates he asked for in the middle of summer
He wanted a good pair, the price he did not care
I looked for his size, our best pair he tried
Custom back and sides, excitement in his eyes
And I looked at him, he looked at me
He looked so sad, I had to see
What did he want, what could it be
What had he been through before me
Seeing him in the store I worked for that year, that year
I asked are you a pro, he looked sad and said no
These skates are my last hope, without them I cannot cope
And he said my wife, she drowned this summer
Behind our house, the river took her, I cannot swim
I need to find her, I will wait till it freezes over
And then I will skate, as far as it take
I will skate as far as it takes, to bring her back home