Module 1 Book Review #3: The Snowy Day

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*This book review was written for one of my MLS courses at SHSU.*

Image result for the snowy day


BIBLIOGRAPHY
Keats, Ezra Jack. (1962). THE SNOWY DAY. New York, NY: Viking Press. ISBN 0670654000

PLOT SUMMARY
During the winter, a young boy named Peter wakes up to a beautiful snowy day. Dressed in a red snowsuit, Peter goes outside and takes advantage of the many opportunities he could only encounter while playing in the snow, such as building a snowman, making snow angels, participate in a snowball fight, etc. Although he worries that the snow will eventually fade away, he continues to wake up in the mornings to find that it is still there and that it is a new day for some more fun and snowy adventures!

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The Snowy Day is an excellent picture book that demonstrates how children can appreciate nature and the different seasons. Peter went outside all by himself and decided to take various risks while playing in the heavy snow, even though he is still fairly young. He recognizes the beauty of the snow and wants to create everlasting memories every chance he gets before it gets too late. This shows optimism, which can be a great model for people to recognize how precious each day of life is.

The text in The Snowy Day is very specific when it comes to describing Peter’s actions, including forms of onomatopoeia. However, I believe that the illustrations help the reader understand just exactly how exciting each thing that Peter does really is. His snowsuit is red and can easily be spotted while he is playing. The snow is pure white in several pictures; however, I did notice that there are hints of pastel colors within it on other pages. This can represent how attractive the snow is to children and their experience of escaping their indoor reality. Overall, I believe that Keats did an amazing job when it comes to matching the pictures with the story’s setting, for it definitely help set the mood.

Finally, I want to highlight the fact that this story was published back in 1962. This was during the time period for the Civil Rights Movement. The text never described Peter’s physical characteristics. In the illustrations, however, the reader is able to see that Peter is a young African American boy. The story does not revolve around his race, but it does revolve around the fact that he is a child who enjoys the snow like no other. The author/illustrator most likely intended for this story to inspire a diverse group of children and signify that they are all worthy of experiencing that wonderful sensation from playing in the snow.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
*1963 Caldecott Medal Winner
*Starred Review from Common Sense Media: “In many of the pictures, Peter lacks facial features except his eyes, but Keats manages, with the angle of his head and the composition, to convey feeling.”
*Starred Review from Horn Book: “The story itself is universal and timeless, singular and modern.”

CONNECTIONS
*A Poem for Peter by Andrea Davis Pinkney will be a great companion book to A Snowy Day. In this book, readers will be able to learn more about Ezra Jack Keats’ cultural and family background. In addition to this, readers will also see how Peter came alive in his stories and how it helped with future books that include diversity.
*Ezra Jack Keats wrote many other stories that include Peter as the protagonist. Some include Peter’s Chair, Whistle for Willie, A Letter to Amy, etc.
*This picture book can simply just be read during the cold winter months. Since I live in Texas, this would be great to read to students since they’ve never probably experienced such heavy snow. This will allow them to wonder and imagine what they would do in this type of weather.

PICTURE SOURCE
https://www.amazon.com/Snowy-Day-Board-Book/dp/0670867330


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