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Splinters by Kevin Sylvester
Cindy Winters loves to play hockey. When her family's basement apartment is flooded and the floor freezes, she's even happy to skate on the concrete. Her parents are too poor to enroll her in a league, but she's resourceful and does odd jobs until she has earned enough money to play. Armed with her mother's old equipment, she is thrilled to join a team. But her happiness doesn't last long. Among her teammates are the horrible Blister Sisters. They make her life miserable. And worse, Cindy's sidelined by the coach, who just happens to be Mrs. Blister. It looks like she'll be spending the season cleaning equipment, instead of playing on the ice. Cindy's luck changes when her Fairy Goaltender appears and saves the day. With its great good humor and hilarious illustrations, Kevin Sylvester's Splinters is bound to become a favorite.
Hardcover
First published September 14, 2010
3 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Sylvester
59 books156 followersKEVIN SYLVESTER is an award winning illustrator, writer and broadcaster.
His new sci-fi series MiNRs is now out from Simon and Schuster. MINRs was named a 2017 Honour Red Maple and Manitoba Reader's Honour book and a 2015 CLA Honour Book. MINRs2 is out. MINRs3 will be released in 2018.
His series The Neil Flambé Capers is already a bestseller and critical success. Students across Ontario picked 'Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders' as the Silver Birch winner for fiction in 2011!
There are 6 books in the series so far, Neil Flambé and the Duel in the Desert is the latest.
Super-chef Gordon Ramsay calls the series “Good Fun”.
Kevin also does picture books - "Super-Duper Monster Viewer" is out from Groundwood. GREAT (with the Gretzky family) is out from Penguin.
Kevin’s first picture book 'Splinters' was published in fall 2010 by Tundra. It’s about a young girl who only wants to play hockey, but the mean coach and her daughters won’t let her. Can her fairy goaltender come to the rescue?
Kevin non-fiction titles include Follow Your Money, Baseballogy, Basketballogoy, Sports Hall of Weird and Gold Medal for Weird.
Kevin has been a broadcaster on national radio in Canada for years and years and has covered eight Olympic Games. He also produced documentaries on topics ranging from racism in hockey to the history of church bells in Canada.
He now splits his time between his attic studio in Toronto and the radio. He was named a Massey Journalism Scholar in 2007 and used the time to study theology at the University of Toronto.
His new sci-fi series MiNRs is now out from Simon and Schuster. MINRs was named a 2017 Honour Red Maple and Manitoba Reader's Honour book and a 2015 CLA Honour Book. MINRs2 is out. MINRs3 will be released in 2018.
His series The Neil Flambé Capers is already a bestseller and critical success. Students across Ontario picked 'Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders' as the Silver Birch winner for fiction in 2011!
There are 6 books in the series so far, Neil Flambé and the Duel in the Desert is the latest.
Super-chef Gordon Ramsay calls the series “Good Fun”.
Kevin also does picture books - "Super-Duper Monster Viewer" is out from Groundwood. GREAT (with the Gretzky family) is out from Penguin.
Kevin’s first picture book 'Splinters' was published in fall 2010 by Tundra. It’s about a young girl who only wants to play hockey, but the mean coach and her daughters won’t let her. Can her fairy goaltender come to the rescue?
Kevin non-fiction titles include Follow Your Money, Baseballogy, Basketballogoy, Sports Hall of Weird and Gold Medal for Weird.
Kevin has been a broadcaster on national radio in Canada for years and years and has covered eight Olympic Games. He also produced documentaries on topics ranging from racism in hockey to the history of church bells in Canada.
He now splits his time between his attic studio in Toronto and the radio. He was named a Massey Journalism Scholar in 2007 and used the time to study theology at the University of Toronto.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 12, 2019
Cute retelling of Cinderella as a female hockey player. This book will definitely be loved by my students!
If you do a lot of traditional tales or story retellings of traditional tales, this book will a great addition to your project. (It is also quite timely as girl's in sports is rising, especially in sports traditionally seen as for boys.)
If you do a lot of traditional tales or story retellings of traditional tales, this book will a great addition to your project. (It is also quite timely as girl's in sports is rising, especially in sports traditionally seen as for boys.)
February 9, 2017
This is totally different from the typical Cinderella stories. It involves sports more than finding prince charming like the typical stories.
December 7, 2017
Cinderella with a twist.
September 20, 2010
This book led to a great discussion between Jake and I over books that really aren't our thing. He took one look at the book and said -- Mom -- this book is for girls and I am NOT A GIRL. We talked about him reading it and rating it based on the merit of the book and not on the subject matter or who the book is directed towards. I told him to pretend he was his friend Brianna (that led to an entirely different discussion, which I will not print here) and to review it based on her perspective. Anyway -- here is our review. Please take into consideration that I had no sleep last night while reading my part of the review : )
Suggested Reading: FOR GIRLS (and Mom says boys too - LOL) Ages 6 - 9
Jake's Review: Mom this is a girls book (mom's note: read note at beginning of post) Ok I am going to pretend I am Brianna and tell you what I think that she would think about it. It's a funny story that is like the author was telling Cinderella using a girl hockey player. I love the pictures and want to read some BOYS books with the same pictures. The story was sort of sad, because Cindy really was a good hockey player and the mean coach and her daughters wouldn't let her play. (Mom's note: this again led to a great discussion about parents coaching and showing preferences for their own kids). I think girls Brianna's (8.5) age and younger would really like it. It's cool that girls get to play hockey. I thought (and so would Brianna I think) that the Fairy Goaltender and the Zamboni parts were really funny. I didn't like the coach who was also the mom of the two bully hockey players, she was really mean and the picture of her was scary.
Jake's Rating: 9/10 (But only if it was a girl reading it, cuz it's a girls book you know)
Mom's Review: Can I tell you how much I loved this book. I LOVED this book. It was a delightfully fun modern twist on the Cinderella story. I loved the fact that the coach was the mom of the two Blister Sisters. Trust me if you are a parent you will or have already dealt with parents who coach and show preferential treatment to their own kids. I loved the character of Cindy, a smart and resourceful girl who saves up her own money to play, because her parents cannot afford it. Slight dry humor and the authors' fabulous illustrations also really add to the story. I am a fan of Kevin Sylvester's books and met him at the OLA conference last year. He just really knows how to write/illustrate books that kids will love. We will keep this book in our collection and pass it around to some young girls who I know will adore this book as much as I did.
Mom's Rating: 10/10
We won this from Talking with Tundra and we didn't have to review it, we just wanted to -- well Jake wasn't really into it this time around, but you know what I mean : )
Suggested Reading: FOR GIRLS (and Mom says boys too - LOL) Ages 6 - 9
Jake's Review: Mom this is a girls book (mom's note: read note at beginning of post) Ok I am going to pretend I am Brianna and tell you what I think that she would think about it. It's a funny story that is like the author was telling Cinderella using a girl hockey player. I love the pictures and want to read some BOYS books with the same pictures. The story was sort of sad, because Cindy really was a good hockey player and the mean coach and her daughters wouldn't let her play. (Mom's note: this again led to a great discussion about parents coaching and showing preferences for their own kids). I think girls Brianna's (8.5) age and younger would really like it. It's cool that girls get to play hockey. I thought (and so would Brianna I think) that the Fairy Goaltender and the Zamboni parts were really funny. I didn't like the coach who was also the mom of the two bully hockey players, she was really mean and the picture of her was scary.
Jake's Rating: 9/10 (But only if it was a girl reading it, cuz it's a girls book you know)
Mom's Review: Can I tell you how much I loved this book. I LOVED this book. It was a delightfully fun modern twist on the Cinderella story. I loved the fact that the coach was the mom of the two Blister Sisters. Trust me if you are a parent you will or have already dealt with parents who coach and show preferential treatment to their own kids. I loved the character of Cindy, a smart and resourceful girl who saves up her own money to play, because her parents cannot afford it. Slight dry humor and the authors' fabulous illustrations also really add to the story. I am a fan of Kevin Sylvester's books and met him at the OLA conference last year. He just really knows how to write/illustrate books that kids will love. We will keep this book in our collection and pass it around to some young girls who I know will adore this book as much as I did.
Mom's Rating: 10/10
We won this from Talking with Tundra and we didn't have to review it, we just wanted to -- well Jake wasn't really into it this time around, but you know what I mean : )
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February 7, 2012Reviewed by Ken Kilback
Cindy loves playing hockey, but her family is very poor. Working hard at odd jobs, Cindy saves up enough money to join “a real league.” Her teammates, the Blister sisters, are jealous of Cindy’s talent and skills and they make her look bad on the ice. And their mom, Coach Blister, benches Cindy for good and assigns her to washing uniforms and taping sticks. Then one day tryouts are announced for an all-star hockey team, the players to be chosen by Head Coach Charmaine Prince. When her Fairy Goaltender appears, Cindy is given a chance to show Charmaine Prince what she can do. Will Cindy be picked for the all-star team? Only if the smooth white leather skate fits (because a glass skate isn’t practical, of course!).
This is a charming retelling of a well-known fairy tale, the story rooted in one of Canada’s favourite sports. The language is fun and rich in many things hockey-related — from the fairy slashing Cindy to transform her attire, to Cindy driving a Zamboni to the tryouts, to Cindy having to leave the ice before the final buzzer sounds. Children will enjoy examining the similarities with, and points of departure from, the Cinderella story. Kevin Sylvester’s watercolour and ink illustrations are engaging, filled with both humour and expressiveness. And when the Fairy Goaltender first appears and we see musical notes floating across the spread, we can almost hear a particular anthem being played on an old pipe organ.
Canadian Children's Book News (Fall 2010, Vol. 33, No. 4)
Cindy loves playing hockey, but her family is very poor. Working hard at odd jobs, Cindy saves up enough money to join “a real league.” Her teammates, the Blister sisters, are jealous of Cindy’s talent and skills and they make her look bad on the ice. And their mom, Coach Blister, benches Cindy for good and assigns her to washing uniforms and taping sticks. Then one day tryouts are announced for an all-star hockey team, the players to be chosen by Head Coach Charmaine Prince. When her Fairy Goaltender appears, Cindy is given a chance to show Charmaine Prince what she can do. Will Cindy be picked for the all-star team? Only if the smooth white leather skate fits (because a glass skate isn’t practical, of course!).
This is a charming retelling of a well-known fairy tale, the story rooted in one of Canada’s favourite sports. The language is fun and rich in many things hockey-related — from the fairy slashing Cindy to transform her attire, to Cindy driving a Zamboni to the tryouts, to Cindy having to leave the ice before the final buzzer sounds. Children will enjoy examining the similarities with, and points of departure from, the Cinderella story. Kevin Sylvester’s watercolour and ink illustrations are engaging, filled with both humour and expressiveness. And when the Fairy Goaltender first appears and we see musical notes floating across the spread, we can almost hear a particular anthem being played on an old pipe organ.
Canadian Children's Book News (Fall 2010, Vol. 33, No. 4)
July 21, 2011
This is the best hockey book I have ever read. It is the imaginative re-telling of the story of Cinderella.
All Cindy Winters wants to do is play ice hockey. She loves the game and plays when ever she gets the chance. Unfortunately her parents have very little money and can't afford to sign her up to play in an organized league. Cindy has to work hard and save till the day she has enough money. She doesn't mind that she has to wear her mothers old and very outdated equipment; she just wants to play.
What she hadn't expected were the nasty Blister sisters. Once they found out what a good player Cindy was, they did everything they could to keep her off the ice.
/This all changes, when at a bleak moment, Cindy's Fairy Goaltender magically appears.
I was laughing through this book. While this will appeal to most all children, any child who is at all even vaguely interesting hockey will love it and want to read it every day, especially during hockey season (which lasts most of the year here in Canada).
All Cindy Winters wants to do is play ice hockey. She loves the game and plays when ever she gets the chance. Unfortunately her parents have very little money and can't afford to sign her up to play in an organized league. Cindy has to work hard and save till the day she has enough money. She doesn't mind that she has to wear her mothers old and very outdated equipment; she just wants to play.
What she hadn't expected were the nasty Blister sisters. Once they found out what a good player Cindy was, they did everything they could to keep her off the ice.
/This all changes, when at a bleak moment, Cindy's Fairy Goaltender magically appears.
I was laughing through this book. While this will appeal to most all children, any child who is at all even vaguely interesting hockey will love it and want to read it every day, especially during hockey season (which lasts most of the year here in Canada).
October 14, 2010
I would like to love this book, but it is too awkward a version of the classic "Cinderella" even for me. I rooted for Cindy Winters; who wouldn't? I was very glad for her when she succeeded in getting on that all-star team over the nasty, selfish daughters of her nasty, evil coach. My favorite bit is the fairy goaltender who makes her magic by slashing Cindy with her hockey stick.
Actually, the more I write about this book, the more I feel warmly toward it, but it just didn't grab me while I was reading it. Maybe it is because the mean-girl phenomenon is too real in a more modern setting. Maybe it's because my daughter's too young to skate yet.
I'd like to recommend this book, but the best I can do is to say, "Read it while still in the library."
Actually, the more I write about this book, the more I feel warmly toward it, but it just didn't grab me while I was reading it. Maybe it is because the mean-girl phenomenon is too real in a more modern setting. Maybe it's because my daughter's too young to skate yet.
I'd like to recommend this book, but the best I can do is to say, "Read it while still in the library."
July 25, 2013
A modern twist on a classic. Splinters is a Cinderella story for a whole new crop on tom-boys.
All Cindy Winters wants to do is play hockey - and she does, whenever she gets the chance. But her family has very little money and can't afford to sign her up to play in an organized league.
Cindy works hard to earn the money herself, but even after she is on a team the evil coach and her nasty daughters, the Blister Sisters, keep Cindy on the bench and don't allow her to show her true talent.
It's not until Cindy's Fairy Goal-tender shows up with a chance of a life time that the tables begin to turn.
Splinters is an engaging story. It's well written and fun for all ages.
The illustrations are beautiful and full of movement expression and fun.
All Cindy Winters wants to do is play hockey - and she does, whenever she gets the chance. But her family has very little money and can't afford to sign her up to play in an organized league.
Cindy works hard to earn the money herself, but even after she is on a team the evil coach and her nasty daughters, the Blister Sisters, keep Cindy on the bench and don't allow her to show her true talent.
It's not until Cindy's Fairy Goal-tender shows up with a chance of a life time that the tables begin to turn.
Splinters is an engaging story. It's well written and fun for all ages.
The illustrations are beautiful and full of movement expression and fun.
April 30, 2013
What I love about this book:
It's a story about a girl who loves to play hockey, but the fact that she is a girl playing hockey is not the "problem" of the story.
It's also a clever example of a fractured version of the Cinderella fairy tale.
Living in an area where lots of girls play hockey - this was a must purchase for my library.
It's a story about a girl who loves to play hockey, but the fact that she is a girl playing hockey is not the "problem" of the story.
It's also a clever example of a fractured version of the Cinderella fairy tale.
Living in an area where lots of girls play hockey - this was a must purchase for my library.
April 7, 2013
Good book, Cinderella from a Canadian slant.
Cindy Winters loves hockey. Her teammates the Blister Sisters and Coach Blister keep her busy on the bench and she doesn't get to play. Her fairy goaltender helps her try out for Coach Prince's team.
Great selection for all ages of the Blue Spruce audience
Recommended
Cindy Winters loves hockey. Her teammates the Blister Sisters and Coach Blister keep her busy on the bench and she doesn't get to play. Her fairy goaltender helps her try out for Coach Prince's team.
Great selection for all ages of the Blue Spruce audience
Recommended
October 7, 2013
I normally don't review the children's books my daughter reads, but this deserves to be an exception. It includes athletic girls, hockey and a fairy goaltender. What more could anyone ask for?
Thanks to Eric Perkins and family for sending.
Thanks to Eric Perkins and family for sending.
November 1, 2010
excellent retelling of cinderella, a must for anyone with a little girl who's into hockey!
February 3, 2011
A tomboy's Cinderella - I love it!
September 16, 2012
a great hockey story! great for little female hockey fans!!!
October 20, 2012
I loved this book! If only it had been around when I was a girl. My parents might have let me play hockey.
January 11, 2013
An engaging story which offers a great opportunity for book study.
July 10, 2015
Good story about overcoming adversity and handling bullying. I love that it was a girl playing hockey and the Cinderella aspect was cute too!
July 22, 2015
Hockey themed Cinderella. Fun read aloud
February 12, 2016
Cinderella in hockey team setting.
August 20, 2025
A Cinderella tale about becoming a hockey superstar.
2025 - I have zero recollection of reading this before! It’s a good adaptation and was a Forest of Reading nominee.
2025 - I have zero recollection of reading this before! It’s a good adaptation and was a Forest of Reading nominee.
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December 1, 2012Adorable!!
May 13, 2013
I know a lot of little girls that play hockey. They will enjoy this story for sure!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews