Module 2 - The Snowy Day

Keats, Ezra Jack. (1962). The Snowy Day. New York:  Puffin Books.

Summary

A young boy wakes up one morning to snow outside his window.  He quickly goes outside to explore and play.  He makes different tracks in the snow with his feet and a stick.  He also makes snowmen and snow angels.  He attempts to join a snowball fight with a group of older boys, but realizes he is not old enough yet.  In an effort to savor his day, the boy puts a snowball in his pocket to save.  After returning home to his mother, and a warm bath, he discovers his snowball is gone!  A wet spot can be seen on the pocket.  After dreaming that the sun melts the snow, the boy is relieved to wake the next morning to more snow.  The story ends with the boy calling his neighbor friend to go out into the snow with him.

My impression

This book is a wonderful picture book of realistic fiction for young children.  Those that live in places with snow will relate to Peter's experiences.  Other children, who have not played in snow, will experience snow through Peter's activities.  Children will relate to Peter's adventures, as they see him not only have fun, but also encounter some older boys who hit him with a snowball.  Keats wrote this book in 1962, and it is worth noting that he wanted to write books that had minority children as the main characters.  I can't help but think that it must have been a breakthrough book in 1962, and how wonderful it was for black boys in that time period to read a book with a character similar to themselves.  Even today, the book remains popular and is timeless.  This was the first book of many about Peter, his family, and friends.  Keats was awarded the Caldcott Medal in 1963 for the illustrations in this book.

Library Uses

This is a great book to use for introducing the winter season. The section with the melted snowball is a great way to talk about states of matter.  Most children will know that the snowball melted, and will enjoy feeling just a little bit smarter than Peter.

I would also use this book for a sequencing lesson.  After reading the book, I would have events in the book listed on sentence strips.  (For children not yet reading, pictures could be used.)  Students could then work together to put the events in the order that they occurred in the book

Reviews

Fiction: PS Because of the boldness of Keats's graphic images, this classic story about a small boy experiencing the joys of a snowy day works well as a board book. The shiny pages even enhance the effect of the collagelike art. Nevertheless, the story seems better suited to a picture-book audience. Horn Rating: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.

Brabander, J. M. (2011). The Snowy Day. Horn Book Magazine, 87(6), 138.