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All You Need for a Snowman

Name: All You Need for a Snowman
Author: Alice Schertle
ISBN: 9780152061159

by Alice Schertle, Barbara Lavallee

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Overview

One small snowflake fluttering down—
That's all you need for a snowman.
Or is it? In these pages, an exuberant crew is summoned to create a snowman of heroic proportions.

Lists everything that one needs to build the perfect snowman, from the very first snowflake that falls.

Synopsis

Flake by icy flake, this book contains all you need for snowman...plus a little extra for a frosty friend.

Publishers Weekly

While this deceptively simple book starring children building a snowman is ultimately about community-how human beings, no matter how small, can help each other create something bigger than themselves-youngsters will find the lilting language and action-filled illustrations to be just plain fun. Schertle's (How Now, Brown Cow?) text deftly describes what goes into making a snowman: "Billions of snowflakes/ piled in a mound,/ pat them/ and pack them/ and roll them/ around/ into one big ball." Her refrain-"That's all you need for a snowman. Except..."-encourages readers to turn the page for each new component. The watercolors, meanwhile, feature children in padded winter jackets who work together. As in childhood, the snowman looms larger than life. As they roll that "one big ball," for example, the children appear to be hugging the edge of a snow-white planet. They place saucer-size bottle caps on the snowman's face-"Surprise!/ Snowman's eyes!"-and add a broom taller than a house. The completed snowman is so huge that the book needs to be turned sideways to view it. Lavallee's illustrations, in the style of her work in Mama, Do You Love Me?, emphasize the children's profiles, shadowing one half of each face as if each character possessed both light and dark skin. A wintertime treat. Ages 2-5. (Oct.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

About the Author, Alice Schertle

ALICE SCHERTLE is a well-known poet with many picture books to her credit, including Down the Road, illustrated by E. B. Lewis, and William and Grandpa, which won the Christopher Award. She lives in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.

BARBARA LAVALLEE is the illustrator of Mama, Do You Love Me?, which won a Golden Kite Award. She lives in Anchorage, Alaska.

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Editorials

From the Publisher

[set star] "Youngsters will find the lilting language and the action-filled illustrations to be just plain fun . . . A wintertime treat."—Publishers Weekly (starred)"A treat in text and pictures to be read again and again."—Kirkus Reviews

Publishers Weekly

School Library Journal

PreS-Working cooperatively, the children of this snow-clad chalet village build two huge snowmen. In colorful winter clothing, these plump and squat kids, with their two-toned faces, swarm the white pages as step-by-step they create a snowman so big that readers must turn the page sideways for a full view. The text is bouncy and light, and rolls along like hand-packed snow. A heavy use of the word "except" entices children on to the next page. Finally, they see two snowmen of Paul Bunyan proportions. The skill of both the author and the artist gives this book energy. Toddlers will be thoroughly satisfied.-Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A rollicking combination of poet (Good Night, Hattie, My Dearie, My Dove, p. 345, etc.) and illustrator (The Gift, not reviewed, etc.) will have exuberant toddlers and their families following along as colorfully clad youngsters build a huge feathery snowman. Watercolor and gouache paintings use white space to the fullest advantage, as the snowman becomes larger and larger. So large that it takes a vertical doublespread for the artist to show off the finished product. Light blue, watercolor snowflakes are a background to the lively activities of the many youngsters. Perspective changes from close-ups to full scenes that work with the pace of the poetry. The placement of the text is a seamless part of the design and oftentimes is as rollicking as the picture. "Three hand-packed, / triple-stacked / balls of snow. / Hat on top, / where a hat should go— / that’s all you need / for a snowman. / EXCEPT for . . ." The last two words are at the bottom of the right-hand page and beg for it to be turned. The hatted, scarved, and booted toddlers are dwarfed beside their creation and are an integral part of the design. With the snowman finished, there is another snowstorm and the fun begins to make a snowman’s friend. One snowman sports a fanny pack and sneakers, the other wears skis and suspenders. A treat in text and pictures to be read again and again. (Picture book. 2-5)