A Letter for Daria

This is a delightful book that showcases a mother's obvious love for her daughter and for her own mother and grandmother. In this book Katia reveals as much or more about herself than she did in her previous book (also a great book) and tells lots of cute and funny antecdotes about her family. As much as I love My Sergei, I think I actually like this one better. But, you should know, it is written for an older children's reading level and is very different from My Sergei in style.Just so no one is mislead, there is NO mention of abortion in this book. Katia says only that she was very lucky that her parents and Sergei were supportive of her having Daria - nothing more, nothing less. Nor does Katia mislead anyone about her (and Sergei's) arrangements for the care of her/their daughter while they were away from home on tour for half the year (her parents moved to the U.S. with them so they could care for Daria while her parents worked (touring) - all children should be so lucky to have their grandparents with them rather than spending long hours in daycare - and Katia expresses her gratitude that that option was available and her desire to do the same for Daria's children one day just as her grandmother took care of her while her own parents were away). In short, this is a delightful book that anyone with a mother or a child can enjoy and appreciate whether they are fans of skating or not. The wisdom Katia has gained from her grandmother and mother and passes on (along with her mom) to Daria is delightful and rings true across all cultures. This book also has some interesting glimpses into Russian/Soviet culture as it differs from our own.

Obviously a previous reader didn't actually read this book since Katia doesn't talk about aborting her child in A Letter for Daria. This book is full of stunning pictures and you can see the love and happiness within this family. The story to her daughter is wonderful. Maybe this book will start a trend-all mothers should write journals to their children. I wish mine had.

This book is so sweet and cute, mostly filled with pictures, Katia Gordeeva writes a very touching letter to her little daughter Dasha. She tells her of life in both America and Russia, what her hopes for her daughter are, who she is in figure skating and what challenges there are. She also talks about Daria's father and tells her how they were such a happy family and one day they will see him. An excellent heartfelt book.

A lovely book filled with photos. As enjoyable to me as well as to my nine year old daughter, both skating fans. We liked being able to see the photos of Daria as she has grown from a baby and how important her grandparents as well as her skating family have been to her and Katia. I would have liked to read more about Daria with Sergei also, and how she is coping, but perhaps this is too personal. We wish them the best and hope she publishes another book in the near future keeping us updated.

Ekaterina Gordeeva pours out the love that she has for her grandmother, mother and her husband as a gift for her daughter Daria. She tells of how important her religion has become to her now that she is free to practice it, and how important grandmothers are in a family. She says that Russian life couldn't exist without grandmothers, which is a lesson we can learn in this country. She values the love of family and continues to raise her daughter without her husband but is susatained by his love and her mother's love, Daria's grandmother.