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Summary
Summary
The snow falls all night. Everything is white. And everyone wants to play. You can play, too!
Come and join the squirrel, the rabbit, the cat, the dog, and all the children. You don't even need your snowsuit!
A joyful picture book from the team behind such favorites as In the Middle of Fall and Summer Song, Caldecott Medalist Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek.
Author Notes
Kevin Henkes was born in Racine, Wis. in 1960 and graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. One of four children in his family, Henkes grew up with aspirations of being an artist. As a junior in high school, one of Henkes's teachers awakened his interest in writing. Falling in love with both writing and drawing, Henkes realized that he could do both at the same time as a children's book author and illustrator.
At the age of 19, Henkes went to New York City to get his first book, All Alone, published. Since that time, he has written and illustrated dozens of picture books including Chrysanthemum, Protecting Marie, and A Weekend with Wendell. A recurring character in several of Henkes's books is Lily, an outrageous, yet delightful, individualist. Lily finds herself the center of attention in the books Chester's Way, Julius, the Baby of the World, and Lily's Purple Plastic Purse.
A Weekend With Wendell was named Children's Choice Book by the Children's Book Council in 1986. He recieved the Elizabeth Burr Award for Words of Stone in 1993. Owen was named a Caldicott Honor in 1994. The Year of Billy Miller was named a Newbery Honor book in 2014.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-"The snow falls and falls all night./In the morning everything is white./And everyone wants to play./Oh!" It's a simple beginning for an innocent day of subdued glee. Double-page spreads feature a spare, repetitive text that's reminiscent of Margaret Wise Brown's work and faces framed illustrations of familiar animals and a duet of children on bright white backgrounds. For example, "The dog wants to play./Run, run, run,/clever old dog" accompanies a frisky red dog at play, and a bunny poised for jumping follows "The rabbit wants to play./Hop, hop, hop,/shy little rabbit." Animals and children come together and the whole group is seen enjoying the snow-filled winter day on a hilly expanse. Finally, evening draws near. "Rush on home./Good-bye, snow./See you again tomorrow./Oh!" Imbued with a soft, fuzzy quality, the full-color acrylic illustrations evoke the haziness of falling snow, and the illustrator's choice of blue and white as dominant colors is gently soothing. A winter book that's sure to please.-Alicia Eames, New York City Public Schools (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this tender treatment by Henkes (Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse) and Dronzek, Henkes's wife, a painter making her children's book debut, "Oh!" becomes a universal expression of friskiness elicited by the first blanket of snow. When morning arrives and "everything is white," the squirrel wants to "skitter, skitter, skitter," the rabbit wants to frolic (the illustration shows it has chased the squirrel from the previous page up a tree). Two children, hoods up and backs to the viewer, jump into snowdrifts and dashing red cardinals swoop in and out of the snowflakes. "OH!" writes Henkes after accounting for all the landscape's gleeful inhabitants, and Dronzek heightens the moment by switching from neatly framed compositions to a full-bleed, double-page spread of all the characters at play. But all snowy days must come to an end: "The sky turns dark. The snow turns blue," and everyone heads for his or her respective home, with promises of more snow-play tomorrow. Extending himself to a younger audience than in his previous works, Henkes keeps his prose succinct and unadorned, seasoning it with repetition and an easy cadence: "The cat wants to play. Sneak, sneak, sneak, brave young cat." Dronzek's acrylic renderings swiftly evoke how snow both sharpens and softens the world. The whitened landscape throws every other color in her palette into sharp relief, while her pastel-like textures look positively downy. Ages 2-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
In a book with a lot of toddler appeal, everyone from the quick gray squirrel to the fat bouncy children plays in the snow on a winter day. The rabbit wants to play. / Hop, hop, hop, / shy little rabbit. Complementing the simplicity of the repetitive, occasionally rhyming text, the acrylic artwork leads up to a double-page spread showing everyone enjoying the day together. From HORN BOOK Spring 2000, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Henkes offers a bare-bones arrangement of words to convey snowfall, the creatures that enjoy it, and the passing of the day. ``The snow falls and falls all night. In the morning everything is white. And everyone wants to play. Oh!'' Animals and children are introduced with the tinkered refrain: ``The cat wants to play. Sneak, sneak, sneak, brave young cat. The dog wants to play. Run, run, run, clever old dog.'' The reasons for the words ``brave'' and ``clever'' are never shown in any tangible way. The snowscape is depicted in a dreamy and lovely wash of color by Dronzek, who gives the animals faces, but uses hats and hoods to hide the features of the children. After everyone joins in a peaceable kingdom of building, the shadows lengthen, the snow turns an evening blue, and playtime is over. For all their simplicity, the words and acts have an opacity that encumbers flow and meaning; the haiku-like spareness is employed without effect. (Picture book. 2-6)
Booklist Review
Ages 2^-4. A book with all the fun and magic that winter offers. The flakes fall all night, and the next morning all is white and everyone wants to play. "Oh!" the text reads, and this gentle exhalation captures in one syllable the wonder of newly fallen snow, especially to the fresh eyes of the intended audience. In neatly squared illustrations set against pure white backgrounds are pictures of bundled-up children and animals who want to wiggle their toes in the snow--the squirrel, the bunny, the cat, the dog, the birds. Dronzek's acrylic art sweetly matches the unembellished text, but there are hints of humor, as well: the tail of a previously pictured animal takes up a corner of the new illustration. A final two-page spread shows the children building a snow rabbit as the animals cavort around them. As soft as snow, this book's simple, playful premise will make readers sigh, "Oh!" --Ilene Cooper
