Snow Scene

by Richard Jackson, Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Illustrator)

Overview

A playful guessing game set in a snowy landscape, this gorgeously illustrated picture book offers a cozy look at a cold winter that slowly melts into a bright spring with only a handful of carefully chosen words

A close-up of tree trunks leads to the question "What are these?"
A page turn reveals: trees!
Look to the right—what are those?
Shadows of crows!

Follow the clues on each spread until the snow starts to melt and spring is revealed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626726802
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	11/07/2017
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Richard Jackson has been an editor/publisher of children’s books since 1962. He gave the May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture in 2005, the year of his official retirement, but is still working, publishing In Plain Sight with illustrations by Jerry Pinkney. He lives with his wife and near his grandchildren in Towson, Maryland.

Among Laura Vaccaro Seeger's many acclaimed books for young readers are First the Egg, a Caldecott Honor Book and Geisel Honor Book, One Boy, a Geisel Honor Book, Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories, winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and Green, a Caldecott Honor Book. Laura lives on Long Island with her husband Chris, their two sons Drew and Dylan, and their dog, Copper.

Editorial Reviews

This fourth book from…Jackson romps around outdoors, its few, coy words inviting readers to look harder at the lovely textured acrylic paintings by Seeger…Each page turn tells a fuller story.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

★ 10/02/2017
Readers move through and out of winter in a series of seamlessly connected acrylic paintings on canvas—it’s unclear whether Seeger actually painted the book as one long continuous scene, but it sure looks that way. Jackson’s pithy rhymes create a kind of guessing game to accompany nearly every page turn. “What are these?” he asks, as readers are confronted with birch bark trunks at close range. “Trees.” A hint of black can be seen at the right edge of the next spread: “And those?/ Shadows./ Of crows.” Readers also discover children, the snowmen they build, and deer, but then, “Just seen?/ A hint of green.” The book surges into spring and summer, before closing with “winter’s hat,” a snow-capped peak. A simultaneously playful and meditative riff on how interconnected—and fleeting—the seasons are. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"A simultaneously playful and meditative riff on how interconnected—and fleeting—the seasons are."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Clever!"—The Horn Book

From the Publisher

10/01/2017
PreS-K— A guessing game leads youngsters from winter to spring in this quiet tour de force. The question, "What are these?" appears on a close-up of bark. A page turn reveals the answer, "Trees," as a stand of birches deep in snow-filled woods stretches across a spread. The questions continue: "And those?" next to purple splotches. The answer: "Shadows./Of crows." Each question is printed near a partial image that is completely revealed with its answer on the following page. Ice-covered branches and a girl with snow-flecked hair are included among the snowy landscapes that follow. Finally, dark, silent winter evening scenes give way to light, as the palette changes from deep purplish-blues to the bright blues, pinks, and greens of spring. Creatures appear after a winter sleep and earth surfaces through winter snow. A striking close-up of May flowers soon follows. All that's left of winter is a snow-capped mountain, described in delightful metaphor: "Winter's hat!" The acrylic paintings, all spreads, are lush and textured. The boy and girl who enjoy the winter woods and making a snowman reappear to relish such spring joys as romping in the rain and reading under a tree. The text is large and spare with one or two words on a page. VERDICT This perfect marriage of stunning illustrations and brief, often rhyming text in a question-and-answer format that will engage the lap set from the start is a first purchase.— Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA

School Library Journal

2017-07-17
A "snow scene" gives way to spring.Verbal and visual cues work together to prompt connections from one double-page spread to the next as spare text combines with lush, painterly acrylic illustrations to deliver a contemplative picture book. "What are these?" reads the opening line, printed against a close-up picture of birch trees against a cold, blue background. "Trees," comes the response on the next spread, with a zoomed-out visual point of view creating depth in the picture plane and depicting the birches among other trees in a snowy landscape. The facing page asks, "And those?" prompting a page turn to reveal that the purplish shapes against the snow on that page were "Shadows. / Of crows." Ensuing pages show further details in the snowy landscape and briefly introduce child characters without developing a real story around them. Instead, a changing palette works with the spare text to first indicate a shift from day to night and then from winter to spring. The children, who have light, peachy skin and dark hair, reappear and enjoy the great outdoors, as do various animals. The conclusion, showing them gazing at a snow-capped mountain in springtime, brings everything full circle. A lushly quiet read. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews