The Snowy Day

As a child growing up in the 60's, this was my favorite children's book. Having it read to me at a young age is one of my earliest vivid memories. I imagined myself as part of Peter's world and as his special friend. The use of patterns inspired me to cut up scraps of fabric, wallpaper or whatever else I could find to make my own artwork. Of the many young children's books in our home, this is the only one I recall that featured a child of color. It didn't mean much to me at first, despite the fact that I knew only white people. As I grew and began to hear subtle and overt racist language and remarks, I had a sense that something was wrong because I knew Peter was just like me. I am grateful to whomever gave my family this book for I believe I would have processed those ugly remarks much differently if not for The Snowy Day. The delight I had in reading this book to my own children is immeasurable. I just purchased two copies of the 50th Anniversary Edition for baby shower gifts.

I ordered 3 of these: one for my daughter, and one each for my neice and nephew. I wish I didn’t. I’m not sure why this book has such great reviews. There is no plot to the book. It is a kid walking outside and coming home. No fancy writing. No rhymes. The pictures are terrible. Why this is considered “a timeless book” In the reviews is beyond me. I gave it a three because it’s a sturdy book of good size for little hands and is not too long, but generally a terrible book.

This is an easy review to write, as there is nothing I dislike about "The Snowy Day." Although it was published in 1962, it is still as fresh and new as, well, newly-fallen snow. Keats knew how to tell a story well, in both words and through his beautiful and colorful images. It is a perfect children's book, because it is written from their point of view, imbued with their unalloyed sense of wonder and enchantment. Most importantly, I think, is that Keats' main character, Peter, is a little African-American boy, who lives in an urban setting. Peter is neither caricatured nor is he a symbol of or vehicle for speaking about social issues, which would have been very easy to do at the time it was written. Instead, it is a timeless story about a young child discovering snow for the first time and trying to understand its mysterious nature. Although Peter does not fully comprehend snow, he enjoys experiencing it just the same. In simple and direct prose, Keats captures and conveys what it is like to be very young and to encounter the beauty and mystery of the natural world, even in an urban setting. I plan to read this book to the younger children in my church's Sunday school...but it's really for me.

My toddler LOVES this little book. He's going on 3 next month and enjoys the Peter character also all the snow. Not long after it was delivered, I discovered that they made a cartoon version of the story that's on Amazon Prime video - just search "The Snowy Day". We found that and my son loves the story even more! I personally love the little 30 minute cartoon of the story too - very soulful. FYI - not sure about the reviews mentioning a color issue. The book I received looks perfectly fine. (we have the board book version)

I love this timeless classic book and its story of a boy's adventures on the first day of snow so it only made sense to buy the board book for my toddler to read to him during the snowy days here in Chicago! The story and artwork received the absolute most prestigious award for children's picture books, so my review cannot possibly do the justice it deserves. I am not even going to try to do that. I will say that the quality of the construction of the book is wonderful, it gets lots and lots of use from my toddler and is still in perfect condition. The author has several great books, my other favorite being Whistle for Willie, and the foundation created in his name does amazing work for children and reading.