Plot Summary
Peter wakes up to find a winter wonderland outside his window that is calling to him to come and play. He bundles up and out he goes to do all the things that the reader remembers doing when exploring his/her snow covered world, making snow angels, leaving funny tracks, sliding and rolling down hills, snowball fights with friends, and saving a snowball in his pocket to keep.
Personal Reaction
This book brings back all my memories of snow days spent in just the same way that Peter spent his. I can feel the cold of my nose and cheeks as I read and remember the wonder of the quietness of a snow covered neighborhood.
Memorable Literary Element
The use of onomatopoeia words make the reader feel that he is experiencing the story with Peter. The crunch, crunch of the snow, the plop of the snow falling from the tree onto Peter's head when he smacked the tree with a stick.
Illustrations
The illustrations are a combination of cut-paper collage/scrapbooking style along with water colors that bring the cut paper to life. The story and illustrations are a classic and the artwork is still reproduced today, the highest form of praise.
Peter wakes up to find a winter wonderland outside his window that is calling to him to come and play. He bundles up and out he goes to do all the things that the reader remembers doing when exploring his/her snow covered world, making snow angels, leaving funny tracks, sliding and rolling down hills, snowball fights with friends, and saving a snowball in his pocket to keep.
Personal Reaction
This book brings back all my memories of snow days spent in just the same way that Peter spent his. I can feel the cold of my nose and cheeks as I read and remember the wonder of the quietness of a snow covered neighborhood.
Memorable Literary Element
The use of onomatopoeia words make the reader feel that he is experiencing the story with Peter. The crunch, crunch of the snow, the plop of the snow falling from the tree onto Peter's head when he smacked the tree with a stick.
Illustrations
The illustrations are a combination of cut-paper collage/scrapbooking style along with water colors that bring the cut paper to life. The story and illustrations are a classic and the artwork is still reproduced today, the highest form of praise.
Reviews/Awards:
Caldecott Medal - 1963
National Education Association "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children" - 2007 (#96)
School Library Journal "Top 100 Picture Books" - 2012 (#5)
Publishers Weekly - Now in a sturdy board-book format just right for youngest readers, Ezra Jack Keats's classic The Snowy Day, winner of the 1963 Caldecott Medal, pays homage to the wonder and pure pleasure a child experiences when the world is blanketed in snow.
Horn Book - The Snowy Day was "the very first full-color picture book to feature a small black hero."
Keats's sparse collage illustrations capture the wonder and beauty a snowy day can bring to a small child.--Barnes & Noble
Caldecott Medal - 1963
National Education Association "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children" - 2007 (#96)
School Library Journal "Top 100 Picture Books" - 2012 (#5)
Publishers Weekly - Now in a sturdy board-book format just right for youngest readers, Ezra Jack Keats's classic The Snowy Day, winner of the 1963 Caldecott Medal, pays homage to the wonder and pure pleasure a child experiences when the world is blanketed in snow.
Horn Book - The Snowy Day was "the very first full-color picture book to feature a small black hero."
Keats's sparse collage illustrations capture the wonder and beauty a snowy day can bring to a small child.--Barnes & Noble
Promotion Idea
This would make a nice addition to a PreK-Gr 2 art lesson one might do in the winter. After reading the story, the teacher could write the sentence starter: "Snow is ___________." Students would finish the sentence with their own words which the teacher would record on the board. Next students might be allowed to paint their own winter scene, like the one on the cover of the book. Teacher will provide materials and guide students through each step. After students' artwork is dry, students could write the sentence "Snow is _________", filling in the blank with the word of their choosing. The artwork would be displayed in a prominent place as part of a winter bulletin board display.
This would make a nice addition to a PreK-Gr 2 art lesson one might do in the winter. After reading the story, the teacher could write the sentence starter: "Snow is ___________." Students would finish the sentence with their own words which the teacher would record on the board. Next students might be allowed to paint their own winter scene, like the one on the cover of the book. Teacher will provide materials and guide students through each step. After students' artwork is dry, students could write the sentence "Snow is _________", filling in the blank with the word of their choosing. The artwork would be displayed in a prominent place as part of a winter bulletin board display.
Photo by LoggaWiggler