Samson in the Snow

by Philip C. Stead

Overview

One sunny day Samson, a large and friendly woolly mammoth, encounters a little red bird who is looking for yellow flowers for her mouse friend (whose favorite color is yellow). As she flies off with the flowers, Samson wonders what it must be like to have a friend. He wonders this for so long, in fact, that he falls asleep and wakes up to a world covered in snow. In the midst of a blizzard, Samson finds and shelters the little red bird and flower-loving mouse in a tender tale of kindness and unexpected friendship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626721821
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	09/27/2016
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	852,214
Product dimensions:	9.80(w) x 10.40(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	510L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

PHILIP C. STEAD is the author of the Caldecott Medal winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee, also named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2010 and a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book of 2010, illustrated by his wife, Erin E. Stead (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, 2010).  Philip, also an artist, both wrote and illustrated his debut Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast (Roaring Brook Press, 2009), which was applauded by School Library Journal for “its wry humor and illustrations worthy of a Roald Dahl creation.”  Philip lives with Erin in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Editorial Reviews

…[an] exquisitely poised and tender fable about friendship in extreme circumstances…Samson is a gentle giant in the Ferdinand/Horton mold who, for all his impressive physical heft and strength, feels a sharp need for companionship…Stead has been in the forefront of illustrators to respond to the preponderance of pixilated images by re-embracing the handmade look and feel of picture books. He draws Samson here in a vigorous gestural style while rendering the landscapes through which the big guy lumbers in mood-mirroring expanses of richly hued and textured pastels…No creature—or artisanal flake—is too small to care about.

The New York Times Book Review - Leonard S. Marcus

★ 06/27/2016
Stead (Ideas Are All Around) returns to themes he’s made his own: friendship, acceptance, and love for small, ordinary objects that most people overlook. Together, his observations form a gentle theology. Samson is a mammoth who wears an expression of furry concern. He’s first seen weeding his dandelion patch. (Aren’t dandelions weeds? Not to Samson.) A red bird appears: “Would you mind if I took some flowers for a friend?” the bird asks. “He is having a bad day.” Samson hears this wistfully: “He wondered what it would be like to have a friend.” When a blizzard descends, Samson thinks immediately of the bird, his concern etched in a wordless vision of the tiny animal sprawled in the snow, and sets out to rescue her. Samson trudges over broad, snowy plains, eventually finding a mouse—the very friend, it emerges, for whom the flowers were intended. Together they find the bird, not a moment too soon. The contrast between the very large and the very small contributes to the story’s magic, and so does Samson, a hero who is tender, patient, and loyal. Ages 4–8. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"This sweet tale of friendship deserves a place in every collection."—School Library Journal, starred review

"The contrast between the very large and the very small contributes to the story’s magic, and so does Samson, a hero who is tender, patient, and loyal."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A story warm in both palette and feeling."—Kirkus Reviews

"A comforting tale packed with symbolism and beauty."—The Horn Book

"A lovely tale for a peaceful storytime."—Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 10/01/2016
K-Gr 2—Samson the woolly mammoth is content with the company of his flowers. When a little red bird flies by, asking for some flowers for a friend whose favorite color is yellow, Samson wonders what having a pal would be like. As summer turns to winter, Samson, concerned about the bird's fate, decides that "it is better to walk than to worry" and sets out to find her. In the meantime he meets a mouse who is also in search of a friend, and together they rescue the bird, who has become trapped in the ice. The storm finally passes as the three newly united creatures trade stories of their adventures. Simple language is suitable for either read-alouds or independent reading. Although some text blocks are within illustrations, most are placed on light backgrounds, making all but one easy to read. As in the best picture books, the narrative is told in words and pictures. Two wordless spreads show the bird's predicament, while a third contrasts these starry white and blue winter scenes with a bright yellow summer one. Pencil-line animals stand out against highly textured backgrounds, and color is essential to the plot, as readers realize that the mouse—whose favorite color is yellow—is the friend for whom the bird originally sought flowers. VERDICT This sweet tale of friendship deserves a place in every collection.—Jill Ratzan, Congregation Kol Emet, Yardley, PA

School Library Journal

2016-06-01
A depiction of deliberate acts of kindness.Stead's return to familiar themes of friendship and camaraderie is refreshed by the introduction of Samson, a wooly mammoth who loves his patch of dandelions but isn't miserly with them. When a red bird (reminiscent of the title character in Stead's Hello, My Name Is Ruby, 2013, in size if not color) requests some to give to a friend having a bad day, he gives them gladly. But as the bird flies away, Samson wistfully wonders what it'd be like to have a friend. He falls asleep and dreams of yellow, and here Stead treats readers to the first of three wordless spreads punctuating the narrative—this one a saturated, bright yellow with starburst prints of dandelion blossoms. Samson awakens to a blizzard, worries about the red bird, and goes off to find her. "It is better to walk than to worry," he thinks as he trudges through the snow. He finds a mouse and lifts him up onto his furry back to stay warm and snug. The mouse, too, is searching for someone, who turns out to be the small red bird. Their reunion is a joyful one, complete with a gift of dandelions to the mouse, and then Samson brings them to a cave's dry safety to wait out the storm, together. A story warm in both palette and feeling. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews