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Overview
In this lighthearted, funny follow-up to the previous Snowmen bestsellers, our young narrator dreams of a non-melting snowman friend who joins him for all of the year's events. They ride a roller coaster together, dive into a swimming pool in the summer, watch the Fourth of July fireworks, and trick-or-treat on Halloween.
It's hilarious, happy wish fulfillment that kids will adore. As Kirkus said of the first book, "It would be difficult not to fall in love with this rollicking flight of imagination."
Synopsis
In this lighthearted, funny follow-up to the previous Snowmen bestsellers, our young narrator dreams of a non-melting snowman friend who joins him for all of the year's events. They ride a roller coaster together, dive into a swimming pool in the summer, watch the Fourth of July fireworks, and trick-or-treat on Halloween.
It's hilarious, happy wish fulfillment that kids will adore. As Kirkus said of the first book, "It would be difficult not to fall in love with this rollicking flight of imagination."
Publishers Weekly
In their third Snowmen title, the Buehners portray a gap-toothed boy's gleefully silly fantasies about playing with his lovable snowman year-round ("On summer evenings in the dark/ We'd chase some fireflies,/ Or sleep out in the quiet woods/ Beneath the starry skies"). On a stormy evening, the boy and his snowman play chess (the snowman's pieces are all miniature snowmen), and on Halloween, they go trick-or-treating (no costume required for the snowman). Mark Buehner's paintings delight in showing off the joyfully absurd situations and rapport between the boy and his friend, never more so than when the snowman does a nosedive into a backyard pool. Ages 3 6. (Oct.)
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
In their third Snowmen title, the Buehners portray a gap-toothed boy's gleefully silly fantasies about playing with his lovable snowman year-round ("On summer evenings in the dark/ We'd chase some fireflies,/ Or sleep out in the quiet woods/ Beneath the starry skies"). On a stormy evening, the boy and his snowman play chess (the snowman's pieces are all miniature snowmen), and on Halloween, they go trick-or-treating (no costume required for the snowman). Mark Buehner's paintings delight in showing off the joyfully absurd situations and rapport between the boy and his friend, never more so than when the snowman does a nosedive into a backyard pool. Ages 3–6. (Oct.)Children's Literature -
The Buehners return to their popular snowmen theme to contemplate the fun to be had if only the snowman were magic and "could stay with me all year." In rhymed couplets our narrator has his magical snowman join him in flying kites, visiting the zoo and an amusement park, celebrating a birthday party, playing games, even swimming and camping in the summer and trick-or-treating on Halloween. In the end, he is hoping the snowman he has just made will be the magic one. Double page, detailed, oil on acrylic paintings set the scenes of the text with a range of additional objects such as houses, trees, clouds, and woods under starry skies. The naturalism of the illustrations is simplified to emphasize the positive emotions expressed. In addition, readers are challenged to find hidden objects in each painting. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia MarantzSchool Library Journal
PreS-Gr 1—"I love to build a snowman/On freezing winter days./But when the sun is bright and warm/My snowman melts away./There's nothing but a puddle/When my snowman disappears./If only he were magic/And could stay with me all year!" With these words, a gap-toothed boy begins an odyssey with his carrot-nosed friend, teaching him to swim and to fly a kite, visiting the amusement park and the zoo, playing at the beach, watching fireworks, and so on. Caralyn Buehner's rhyming text—only occasionally bumpy—sets the scene nicely, while Mark Buehner paints the scenery in gorgeously luminous oils and acrylics. With changing perspectives, places, and details that show off the illustrator's skill and imagination, every spread explodes with glee. Readers will explore the pictures again and again to take up the trademark challenge: find the hidden creatures in each scene. A celebration of friendship and sheer fun.—Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NYKirkus Reviews
A little boy who loves building snowmen but doesn't so much love seeing them melt imagines a magic snowman who "could stay with me all year!" They'd fly kites together, ride the roller coaster, watch the Fourth of July fireworks, camp out in the woods, etc. Caralyn Buehner's rhyming four-line stanzas put boy and snowman together in a variety of situations that Mark Buehner's bright, oil-over-acrylic paintings realize with mild whimsy. It is funny to see the snowman's mittened hands holding up a jar of fireflies, and the spread of the boy burying the snowman in the sand at the beach will elicit chuckles. But this outing lacks the magic of the pair's Snowmen at Night (2002) almost entirely, coming alive only on the very last page, which suggests that perhaps it's time for this franchise to melt. (Picture book. 4-7)