Snowzilla

Janet Lawler

Book - 2012

When neighbors complain that her snowman is too tall, Cami Lou finds a perfect new place for him in the community garden.

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Subjects
Genres
Stories in rhyme
Picture books
Published
Las Vegas, NV : Amazon Children's Publishing c2012
Language
English
Main Author
Janet Lawler (-)
Physical Description
1 v. (unpaged) : chiefly col. ill. ; 29 cm
ISBN
9780761461883
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In a chirpy story of mild civil strife, a girl named Cami Lou constructs a humungous snowman (helpfully, her parents own a snowplow and a bulldozer) that attracts thousands of visitors. When angry neighbors protest ("A lady warned everyone,/ 'Make no mistake-/ when temperatures rise,/ he'll turn into a lake!' "), Cami and her brother work to have the snowman relocated. Working in acrylic and colored pencil, Haley portrays a playfully lopsided town, but Lawler's rhymes are often labored ("So Cami used e-mail and texting and blogging/ to save all their effort spent packing and slogging") and the ending feels pat. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 1-Lawler opens with this Dr. Seuss-like stanza: "It snowed without stopping/for week after week./When it ended at last,/Cami Lou took a peek." Cami Lou (whose name is reminiscent of Dr. Seuss's Cindy Lou Who) makes terrific use of a snow-packed landscape to create, with the help of her mother, father, and younger brother, the biggest snowman ever. "Thousands of people rode buses to see/the towering snowman, as tall as a tree." The burst of tourism is disrupted by petty neighbors, and the case against Snowzilla makes it all the way to court. Readers won't have much time to worry as the irrepressible Cami Lou thinks, emails, texts, blogs, and community organizes her way out of this modern dilemma. Lawler's rhymes occasionally sound contrived, but they scan beautifully. Haley's offbeat, busy, and chaotically colorful cartoon-style illustrations are a lively complement to the bouncy text.-Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY (c) Copyright 2012. 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 Kirkus Book Review

Community dissension and compromise are brought down to a kid's level in this tale of a giant snowman. With a little help from their family, some equipment and Mother Nature, Cami Lou and her little brother build a huge snowman sporting a hat, scarf and arms with five mittens/gloves each. "Then Cami Lou cheered / as she stood down below. / We'll call you Snowzilla! / Our giant of snow!' " People come from all around to see Snowzilla, but when the townspeople complain of blocked views, scared pets and the threat of flood, the judge rules that he must go. The modern-day girl turns to social media to save her snowman, and the next day, in an operation that could be likened to the moving of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, people turn out in droves to help hoist and move Snowzilla. But for all the hoopla, Cami Lou is not particularly sad when Snowzilla melts--she is busy planning something even bigger for next year, a disconnect that might catch readers' attention. Haley's brightly colored acrylic-andcolored-pencil artwork lends a festive feel to the text. Over-the-top patterns and styles of winter clothing, along with the hairstyles and grimaces of the sourpusses, give her characters personality. The power of a community to pull together and solve problems is definitely in evidence here, though the tale's sheer implausibility and its sometimes-stumbling rhythms may turn readers off. Ultimately like Snowzilla--fluff. (Picture book. 4-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.