The Snowman

Life has been crazy lately! But I'm back (for now). I just noticed that I didn't even post any Valentine's stories this year...but I did a few last year, so I guess that's not a total loss.

Anyway, we've been reading a lot of winter-themed books at our house, in between the Christmas stories and the Valentine's Day stories--and I'm trying to squeeze some in now, before we get to St. Patrick's and Easter.

The Snowman, by Raymond Briggs, is a wordless picture book. (I've heard that there's a version out with words now, but that the wordless version is better--it has more pictures and more of a story to tell.) Some kids love this kind of story, especially pre-readers, who feel like they can "read" the story on their own. Other kids aren't really into it. Little Boy is kind of neutral about them, so I get wordless books from the library occasionally, but they're not usually favorites for him.

This story is about a boy who has an adventure during the night with a snowman. The boy invites the snowman into his house and shows him all kinds of wonders--like the stove, which the snowman stays far away from, to a set of false teeth floating in a glass of water, to an ice chest. Then the snowman takes the boy outside, and they fly up into the sky, over cities and forests, and then back home. The next morning, the boy goes outside to play with his friend again, but finds that the snowman has already melted.

This, depending on your child, is a good place to say, "The end!" and leave it at that, or to talk about what happens when friends go away.

The Snowman
Written and illustrated by Raymond Briggs
Age range*: 4-7
My rating: 3 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library.