Review by Booklist Review
PreS^-K. The narrator offers encouraging advice on how to make a snowman, while neighborhood children industriously build two impossibly large ones, decked out with all sorts of winning accessories. "One small snowflake / fluttering down--/ that's all you need / for a snowman. / EXCEPT / two more snowflakes . . . / three flakes . . . four . . . / five . . . six . . . seven thousand . . . / eight million more. "The text flows easily, rhythmic and rhyming, but without ever falling into lockstep predictability. Just as fresh and pleasing as the verse are the watercolor-and-gouache paintings, which capture the playfulness of the subject. Though the children cavort in the snow, they also work seriously and succeed magically in making their enormous snow sculptures. The harmonious colors of their clothing glow against the ever present backdrop of blue-tinged whiteness. Lavallee, whose appealing artwork will be familiar to readers of Mama, Do You Love Me? (1991), creates series of scenes that celebrate the serious pleasures of children at play. A captivating book for snow-themed story hours and a dreamlike manual for would-be builders of snowmen. --Carolyn Phelan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
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 (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Preschool) ""One small snowflake / fluttering down- / that's all you need / for a snowman,"" declares Schertle on the first spread in what might be called an accumulative tale. There's one more word at the lower right corner of the page-""EXCEPT...""-setting the pattern to follow: ""two more snowflakes...three flakes...four...five...six...seven thousand... eight million more"" snowflakes until there are ""billions"" to form into a ball. ""And that's all...EXCEPT..."" for two smaller snowballs, followed by eyes and nose, a full set of clothes, a book to read, and ""that's absolutely ALL you need,"" EXCEPT, finally, a second snowman to be friend to the first. Schertle's neatly rhymed and cadenced text keeps the simple story rolling, while Lavallee (who lives in Anchorage) clearly understands the serious joys of making snowmen in superabundant snow. Industrious tots, rotund in rainbow-hued snow gear,radiate vigor as they collaborate on their monumental project, enthusiastically shaping the shadow-dappled snow and boldly scaling their creation to bedeck him. A wonderfully childlike and ebullient addition to the winter repertoire. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
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)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
