Tag: snowmen

Posted in Preschool Reads

Happy Book Birthday, Space Boy and the Snow Monster! Plus, a giveaway!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Space Boy and the Snow Monster, by Dian C. Regan/Ilustrated by Robert Neubecker, (Oct. 2017, Boyds Mill Press), $17.95, ISBN: 978-1-59078-957-5

Recommended for readers 3-8

Niko the Space Boy blasts off on his third adventure! This time, Space Boy’s trusty friend Radar is missing on Planet Ice (don’t worry, he’s never far out of the reader’s sight) and a horrible Snow Monster – who looks a lot like Niko’s sister – is menacing him! His space dog, Tag, wanders away from him, leaving him all alone to battle the Snow Monster, who’s building an army of mohawked snow soldiers. Luckily, Niko manages to locate Radar and get to the ship, re-acquire Tag, and get to safety. Maybe.

This fun book is perfect for readers of all levels. With a layout that feels part picture book, part comic book, with comic-like panels cartoony art that includes mohawked snowmen, kids and adults alike will be waiting for a snow day to go on an exploration of their own. There’s a real Calvin & Hobbes feel to the story, as we see the story through Niko’s imagination; little hints keep us grounded in reality, but not too much that we can’t surrender to the adventure. My son immediately asked me to start saving cardboard boxes, so we can make our own spaceship, when I first read him this one; I suggest you start saving your own delivery boxes now. Split into mini-chapters (or episodes, for old school serial sci fi fans) lets kids come back to the adventure if they need to take a break. The fonts are wild and exaggerated, and the art is loaded with movement across spreads.

SPACE BOY AND THE SNOW MONSTER; text copyright c 2017 by Dian Curtis Regan, illustrations copyright c 2017 by Robert Neubecker,
published by Boyds Mills Press. All rights reserved.

Space Boy and the Snow Monster is an enjoyable addition to the Space Boy series, and a fun standalone picture book on its own. Put this one with your snow day books and your maker books, like DK’s Out of the Box, to give kids some adventuring ideas of their own.

Want to blast off with your own copy of Space Boy and the Snow Monster? Enter this Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance! (U.S. addresses only, please!)

SPACE BOY AND THE SNOW MONSTER; text copyright c 2017 by Dian Curtis Regan, illustrations copyright c 2017 by Robert Neubecker,
published by Boyds Mills Press. All rights reserved.

 

Dian Curtis Regan is the author of more than 60 books for young readers, ranging from picture books to YA novels.  Her books have received many honors, including Best Books for Young Adults, Children’s Choice Awards, Junior Library Guild selections, Los Angeles Times Recommended Book, and New York Public Library’s Best Books.  Space Boy and the Space Pirate was a 2017 finalist for the Colorado Book Award, and the winner of a 2017 Crystal Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. Space Boy and the Snow Monster is brand new this fall. Dian lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  To learn more, and to download a curriculum guide, visit diancurtisregan.com and spaceboybooks.com.

 

https://i0.wp.com/illustrationfriday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/IllustrationFriday_RobertNeubecker12.jpgRobert Neubecker is the award-winning author-illustrator of Wow! City!, Wow! America!, and Wow! School!, and the illustrator of The Problem with Not Being Scared of Monsters and its companion The Problem with Not Being Scared of Kids. He lives in Park City, Utah. Visit neubecker.com.

Posted in Preschool Reads

Book Review: All You Need for a Snowman, by Alice Schertle/illus. by Barbara LaVallee (Harcourt, 2002)

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

all-you-need-for-snowmanRecommended for ages 3-5

A group of children list all the important materials you need to create a snowman, beginning with the first snowflake.

The process of building a snowman takes on a life of its own in cadence and rhyme in this story, which builds excitement as it goes along, teasing the reader with each spread. “One small snowflake/fluttering down—/that’s all you need/for a snowman” begins the first spread, but the word EXCEPT on the lower right hand corner of the page tells the reader there’s more to come. The next spread brings the next adds more snowflakes: “two more snowflakes…/three flakes… four…/five… six… seven thousand…/eight million more…”, followed by the rolling of the snow into a ball, then two smaller balls, then choosing a hat, until the snowman stands,  towering over the group. The word EXCEPT shows up on every other spread, pushing the reader to continue the story and building anticipation in the listener. The artwork brings an interesting look at a multicultural group of children by emphasizing the children’s profiles and shadowing one half of each face as if the children possess both light and dark skin. Ms. Lavallee’s watercolor and gouache paintings use light blue snowflakes as a background to the children’s snowman building activity, and  she  changes perspective from close-ups to full scenes that work with the pace of the text. The plain black font plays with the space, never interfering with the story and yet becoming part of it as it stacks to the side of the artwork or teases at the bottom of a page.

This would be a great story to read during a winter/snow read-aloud. The rhyme and cadence of the text would be soothing to listeners even as they became excited to learn what comes next in the snowman-building process. There are many printables and fingerplays available featuring snowmen, and a fun craft would allow children to create their own snowmen with cutout shapes that mirror some of those mentioned in the story: big snowballs, smaller snowballs, hats, “bottle caps” for eyes, “carrots” for noses, scarves, earmuffs, boots and belts. The Perry Public Library has many suggestions for Winter read-alouds.

The Children’s Literature Network offers an author webpage for Ms. Schertle with a biography and featured covers of some of her works.