It's Snowing! It's Snowing!: Winter Poems (I Can Read Book 3) by Prelutsky, Jack (2006) Paperback

I Can Read: Level 3

by Jack Prelutsky

A collection of more than a dozen poems that capture the excitement of winter.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Christmas

Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Jack Prelutsky is an American poet. He attended New York public schools, and later the High School of Music and Art and Hunter College. Prelutsky, who has also worked as a busboy, furniture mover, folk singer, and cab driver, claims that he hated poetry in grade school because of the way it was taught. He is the author of more than 30 poetry collections including Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep< and A Pizza the Size of the Sun. He has also compiled countless children's anthologies comprised of poems of others'. Jack Prelutsky was married to Von Tre Venefue, a woman he had met in France. They divorced in 1995, but Jack remarried. He currently lives in Washington state with his wife, Carolyn. He befriended a gay poet named Espiritu Salamanca in 1997 and both now work together in writing poems and stories for children and adults alike.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's no secret that illustrations influence the tone and quality of a book. When It's Snowing! It's Snowing! came out in 1984, it featured black-and-white drawings by Jeanne Titherington, but upon its 2006 republication, all-new illustrations by Yossi Abolafia were swapped in, and the two artists' styles are dramatically different. Jack Prelutsky worked with Marylin Hafner in It's Valentine's Day, It's Halloween, It's Thanksgiving, and It's Christmas, and Yossi Abolafia's style is much closer to hers than Jeanne Titherington's was, so natural continuity feels more in place for Yossi Abolafia's It's Snowing! It's Snowing! than the original version. Ultimately, the artwork in both incarnations of the book is so tenderly expressive of Jack Prelutsky's poetic sentiment that I can't commend either illustrator as substantially better than the other, though if pressed to choose, I'd pick Yossi Abolafia for this book. His artistry is more versatile than Jeanne Titherington's, suited for the comedic as well as the sublime, and that's an ideal fit for Jack Prelutsky.

The collection of sixteen poems begins with the title verse, a lighthearted ode to the excitement of the year's inaugural snow, and the vague yet insistent hope that if enough of the powdery white settles on the ground before morning, school might be cancelled the next day. What's a more welcome relief than a day off in the midst of the coldest portion of the year? "One Last Little Leaf" sees the world poised on the verge of winter, reluctant to take that last step into the icy deluge that's going to set in for the next several months. As long as summer birds still tweet and a leaf or two remains high in the trees, the worst of winter has to wait before roaring in and taking over everyday life. But "One Last Little Leaf" is more deeply meaningful than just a snapshot of our collective hesitation on the threshold of winter solstice. It's a poignant picture of expectation as it drifts toward hopelessness, the optimism of youth and spring dying out or going dormant under snowy sheets of bitter cold. But does not a ray of sunshine pierce tomorrow's gloom as long as that one little leaf holds tightly to its branch, as long as the songbird stays firmly on its perch and warbles tunes of warmth and hope? Sometimes a lone, sweet robin and a tenacious green leaf are all that stands between us and the frigid grasp of winter.

"There's a leaf clinging fast to
a branch,
though withered, it somehow
holds on,
and a single bird singing its song,
though all of its kindred have gone.

And as long as that little leaf stays,
and as long as that stubborn
bird sings,
then autumn remains in the world,
and winter must wait in the wings."

—"One Last Little Leaf", P. 10

"December Days Are Short" is next, depicting a day playing in the snow with friends, from just after breakfast until sunset. Darkness descends quickly in the dead of winter, so there's not a lot of time for outdoor games, to the chagrin of kids everywhere. But don't our best days tend to feel shortest no matter what part of the year they take place? "December Days Are Short" is one poem where Yossi Abolafia's illustrations have an advantage over Jeanne Titherington's, but hers retain a certain charm, too, particularly the picture of our smiling main character standing atop a pyramid of five other kids on their hands and knees in the snow. I'll take Yossi Abolafia's rendering of the kids dragging their sleds off into the setting sun instead, but both images are nice. "Shadow Thought" and "Winter Signs" are snippets of seasonal observation, and "Winter's Come" is a parade of lovely language that shows the full onset of the solstice, as the mercury plunges to forbidding temperatures and realization sets in that ice, snow, and slush are going to be our ever-present companions for a long while. Jeanne Titherington's black-and-white snowy landscapes are especially evocative of the feeling this poem conveys. "My Mother Took Me Skating" displays Jack Prelutsky's famed sense of humor, the story of a mom who's quite competent at figure skating bringing her kid to the outdoor rink. Yossi Abolafia's illustration demonstrates the payoff of the poem's comical final line much more clearly than Jeanne Titherington's. "My Snowman Has a Noble Head" sees a couple of boys building a stocky snowman complete with all manner of accoutrements, but the snowman may be subconsciously modeled after a certain member of the family. Winter is notorious as cold and flu season, and "I Am Freezing!" leads up to the reveal that the kid has a head cold which is likely to curtail his fun in the snow for a week or two.

We move on to "My Sister Would Never Throw Snowballs at Butterflies", about a boy whose sibling never pelts any other creature with missiles of compact ice and snow, but wouldn't miss the chance to fire a few at him. Snowball fights are one of the unique recreations of the season. "My Mother's Got Me Bundled Up" is reminiscent of Ralphie and Randy Parker's plight in the classic holiday movie A Christmas Story, with a mother who packs her children so tightly in warm clothes that they can hardly stand or walk. "Getting ready to go to school was like getting ready for extended deep-sea diving," Ralphie says in the movie. "I'm a living, breathing model of a walking clothing shop" is how Jack Prelutsky describes the kids' predicament in It's Snowing! It's Snowing!. "My Mother's Got Me Bundled Up" is an amusing, nostalgic bit of poetry. "Stuck in the Snow" is a short, quippy verse that gets in a good grumble about having to shovel snow, a gripe revisited later in this collection. Kids generally don't mind extreme weather in winter as long as the snow is fluffy and fun to play in, as "I Do Not Mind You, Winter Wind" observes. But even a patient child who doesn't stew over long stretches of brutal cold can be upset by winter when it gets a little too pushy. The concluding line of the poem is classic Jack Prelutsky, lightly humorous and full of the season's positive energy.

"A snowflake fell into my hand,
a tiny, fragile gem,
a frosty crystal flowerlet
with petals, but no stem.

I wondered at the beauty
of its intricate design,
I breathed, the snowflake vanished,
but for moments, it was mine."

—"A Snowflake Fell", P. 41

Incredible. "A Snowflake Fell" is the centerpiece of this book, by far the most powerful poem, resonating in perpetuity into forgotten corners of the human soul. The beauty of light and love and happiness and joy that we see in winter like no other season, seeming as though it will never end and then suddenly shifting to spring, is palpable in this poem, but there's so much more than that. The enchantedness of life is an impossibly intricate snowflake melting in our hand faster than we can savor it, in our grasp one second and dissolved into eternity the next, a glorious miniature tapestry of silken frost created and destroyed with no voice to sing of its splendor for all who never witnessed its complex beauty up close. "A Snowflake Fell" brings to mind no less urgently the memory of loved ones who waft into our sphere of existence like delicate, downy specks of frozen precipitation, blessing us with their closeness when they miraculously settle into our outstretched palm. Yet we know that regardless how fervently we wish to keep them forever just as they were in that first moment, forever is a petition granted no one in this lifetime. We marvel at the engineering that created them, but snow always warms into water, and the awesome artistry of our own favorite snowflake eventually dissolves back into elemental homogeny. But what a wondrous time we had when we cradled them in the palm of our hand, unapologetically, inarguably ours. "A Snowflake Fell" is Jack Prelutsky at his utmost, as good as any verse Shel Silverstein wrote, the magnum opus of an author whose crowning as Children's Poet Laureate of the United States was affirmation to every youngster who ever picked up a Prelutsky poem and loved what they read.

"When Snowflakes Are Fluttering" uses the most gorgeous language of the entire volume, vivid, sensuous descriptions of snow in its varied forms. "When snowflakes are fluttering fluttering fluttering down in the cold winter night, I watch with surprise, as they fill up my eyes with uncountable pinpoints of light." "When snowflakes are shimmering shimmering shimmering gently on top of my hair, to give me a crown of soft powdery down, I wish they would always be there." Some of the prettiness of "When Snowflakes Are Fluttering" is the use of special fonts, which can't be reproduced in this review, but the effulgent language speaks for itself. Even without the sixteenth poem, "It's Snowing! It's Snowing!" would have ended on a high note for the inclusion of When Snowflakes Are Fluttering.

"My Snowman sadly bowed
his head
in March, one sunny day,
and this is what he softly said
before he went away:

'IN THE MIDDLE OF DECEMBER
I WAS HANDSOME, ROUND,
AND TALL,
NOW I HARDLY CAN REMEMBER
THOSE DECEMBER DAYS AT ALL.
OH MY STOMACH'S STARTED
SHRINKING,
I AM LOSING ALL MY FORM,
AND I'M THINKING AS I'M
SHRINKING
THAT I WISH IT WEREN'T WARM.

I CAN FEEL MY SHOULDERS
STOOPING
AS MY BODY'S GETTING THIN,
MY NOSE HAS STARTED
DROOPING
AND MY MOUTH HAS LOST
ITS GRIN,
I AM SURELY GETING
SHORTER,
THERE IS LITTLE LEFT
OF ME,
MY HEAD IS BUT A QUARTER
OF THE SIZE IT USED TO BE.

I AM GETTING HARD OF HEARING
AND MY VISION'S LITTLE USE,
FOR MY EARS ARE DISAPPEARING
AND MY EYES ARE COMING LOOSE.
THROUGH THE ICY WEEKS
OF WINTER
I STOOD PROUDER THAN A KING,
NOW I'M THINNER THAN
A SPLINTER,
WINTER'S MELTING INTO SPRING!'"

—"The Snowman's Lament", PP. 44-47

The last poem of the lot, "The Snowman's Lament", is as emotional as anything in this collection, a profoundly poignant construct about the transience of life and how fleeting one's time is at the top of the mountain. Our best days whiz by as quickly as they do because we're never going to be ready for them to end; once we've tasted the pleasures of achievement and personal contentment, we'll never happily settle for less. Life is shorter than we care to admit, and the time is nigh upon us when the superb strength we depended on to carry the day so many times will falter, and a wave of melting heat unlike any we've encountered will be too much to withstand. But though we're shrinking by the day and can't figure out how to freeze time for even a moment to regain our bearings and appreciate the twilight of our season in the sun as the clock runs out on us, it's not all bad. What we have today melts only because spring is imminent, the renewal of all that's excellent and beautiful and worthy just like what we held dear in the halcyon days of our past. There's a new chapter to write, pen poised to start scrawling, a new season of warmth and vitality following on the heels of prolonged winter. As excruciating as the process of death and rebirth is, sometimes it's best to start over, and our cherished days of yore won't be forgotten in the rejuvenation of seasons to come. There's always another spring, summer, fall, and winter to follow, and as long as that cycle remains, so too will our hope of revisiting past glories through the miracle of renewal.

Jack Prelutsky is purveyor of more quality poetry than just about any other children's author in American history, but he's raised the bar for himself in It's Snowing! It's Snowing! Several strong selections stand out, but to me this anthology clearly revolves around "One Last Little Leaf", "A Snowflake Fell", and "The Snowman's Lament", three of the best pieces Jack Prelutsky ever composed. Chiefly because of those three poems, I'm rating It's Snowing! It's Snowing! three and a half stars, and seriously considered rounding that up to four. Procuring two copies of the book—one with Jeanne Titherington's illustrations, the other with Yossi Abolafia's—is worth the time and effort, as the poems feel quite different depending on who's bringing them to visual life. If I were to suggest just one Jack Prelutsky book to get a reader hooked on his writing, it would probably be It's Snowing! It's Snowing!, which is saying a lot for the creator of so many volumes of distinguished poetry adored by multiple generations. I love this book more than I know how to express, and hope it stands through time as testament to one of the great youth poets the world has known. See you next winter, Jack Prelutsky, when you and every gentle snowflake and proud snowman anyone ever loved will once again reanimate in the pages of this book. I look forward to it.

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's no secret that illustrations influence the tone and quality of a book. When It's Snowing! It's Snowing! came out in 1984, it featured black-and-white drawings by Jeanne Titherington, but upon its 2006 republication, all-new illustrations by Yossi Abolafia were swapped in, and the two artists' styles are dramatically different. Jack Prelutsky worked with Marylin Hafner in It's Valentine's Day, It's Halloween, It's Thanksgiving, and It's Christmas, and Yossi Abolafia's style is much closer to hers than Jeanne Titherington's was, so natural continuity feels more in place for Yossi Abolafia's It's Snowing! It's Snowing! than the original version. Ultimately, the artwork in both incarnations of the book is so tenderly expressive of Jack Prelutsky's poetic sentiment that I can't commend either illustrator as substantially better than the other, though if pressed to choose, I'd pick Yossi Abolafia for this book. His artistry is more versatile than Jeanne Titherington's, suited for the comedic as well as the sublime, and that's an ideal fit for Jack Prelutsky.

The collection of sixteen poems begins with the title verse, a lighthearted ode to the excitement of the year's inaugural snow, and the vague yet insistent hope that if enough of the powdery white settles on the ground before morning, school might be cancelled the next day. What's a more welcome relief than a day off in the midst of the coldest portion of the year? "One Last Little Leaf" sees the world poised on the verge of winter, reluctant to take that last step into the icy deluge that's going to set in for the next several months. As long as summer birds still tweet and a leaf or two remains high in the trees, the worst of winter has to wait before roaring in and taking over everyday life. But "One Last Little Leaf" is more deeply meaningful than just a snapshot of our collective hesitation on the threshold of winter solstice. It's a poignant picture of expectation as it drifts toward hopelessness, the optimism of youth and spring dying out or going dormant under snowy sheets of bitter cold. But does not a ray of sunshine pierce tomorrow's gloom as long as that one little leaf holds tightly to its branch, as long as the songbird stays firmly on its perch and warbles tunes of warmth and hope? Sometimes a lone, sweet robin and a tenacious green leaf are all that stands between us and the frigid grasp of winter.

"There's a leaf clinging fast to
a branch,
though withered, it somehow
holds on,
and a single bird singing its song,
though all of its kindred have gone.

And as long as that little leaf stays,
and as long as that stubborn
bird sings,
then autumn remains in the world,
and winter must wait in the wings."

—"One Last Little Leaf", P. 10

"December Days Are Short" is next, depicting a day playing in the snow with friends, from just after breakfast until sunset. Darkness descends quickly in the dead of winter, so there's not a lot of time for outdoor games, to the chagrin of kids everywhere. But don't our best days tend to feel shortest no matter what part of the year they take place? "December Days Are Short" is one poem where Yossi Abolafia's illustrations have an advantage over Jeanne Titherington's, but hers retain a certain charm, too, particularly the picture of our smiling main character standing atop a pyramid of five other kids on their hands and knees in the snow. I'll take Yossi Abolafia's rendering of the kids dragging their sleds off into the setting sun instead, but both images are nice. "Shadow Thought" and "Winter Signs" are snippets of seasonal observation, and">Winter's Come" is a parade of lovely language that shows the full onset of the solstice, as the mercury plunges to forbidding temperatures and realization sets in that ice, snow, and slush are going to be our ever-present companions for a long while. Jeanne Titherington's black-and-white snowy landscapes are especially evocative of the feeling this poem conveys. "My Mother Took Me Skating" displays Jack Prelutsky's famed sense of humor, the story of a mom who's quite competent at figure skating bringing her kid to the outdoor rink. Yossi Abolafia's illustration demonstrates the payoff of the poem's comical final line much more clearly than Jeanne Titherington's. "My Snowman Has a Noble Head" sees a couple of boys building a stocky snowman complete with all manner of accoutrements, but the snowman may be subconsciously modeled after a certain member of the family. Winter is notorious as cold and flu season, and "I Am Freezing!" leads up to the reveal that the kid has a head cold which is likely to curtail his fun in the snow for a week or two.

We move on to "My Sister Would Never Throw Snowballs at Butterflies", about a boy whose sibling never pelts any other creature with missiles of compact ice and snow, but wouldn't miss the chance to fire a few at him. Snowball fights are one of the unique recreations of the season. "My Mother's Got Me Bundled Up" is reminiscent of Ralphie and Randy Parker's plight in the classic holiday movie A Christmas Story, with a mother who packs her children so tightly in warm clothes that they can hardly stand or walk. "Getting ready to go to school was like getting ready for extended deep-sea diving," Ralphie says in the movie. "I'm a living, breathing model of a walking clothing shop" is how Jack Prelutsky describes the kids' predicament in It's Snowing! It's Snowing!. "My Mother's Got Me Bundled Up" is an amusing, nostalgic bit of poetry. "Stuck in the Snow" is a short, quippy verse that gets in a good grumble about having to shovel snow, a gripe revisited later in this collection. Kids generally don't mind extreme weather in winter as long as the snow is fluffy and fun to play in, as "I Do Not Mind You, Winter Wind" observes. But even a patient child who doesn't stew over long stretches of brutal cold can be upset by winter when it gets a little too pushy. The concluding line of the poem is classic Jack Prelutsky, lightly humorous and full of the season's positive energy.

"A snowflake fell into my hand,
a tiny, fragile gem,
a frosty crystal flowerlet
with petals, but no stem.

I wondered at the beauty
of its intricate design,
I breathed, the snowflake vanished,
but for moments, it was mine."

—"A Snowflake Fell", P. 40

Incredible. "A Snowflake Fell" is the centerpiece of this book, by far the most powerful poem, resonating in perpetuity into forgotten corners of the human soul. The beauty of light and love and happiness and joy that we see in winter like no other season, seeming as though it will never end and then suddenly shifting to spring, is palpable in this poem, but there's so much more than that. The enchantedness of life is an impossibly intricate snowflake melting in our hand faster than we can savor it, in our grasp one second and dissolved into eternity the next, a glorious miniature tapestry of silken frost created and destroyed with no voice to sing of its splendor for all who never witnessed its complex beauty up close. "A Snowflake Fell" brings to mind no less urgently the memory of loved ones who waft into our sphere of existence like delicate, downy specks of frozen precipitation, blessing us with their closeness when they miraculously settle into our outstretched palm. Yet we know that regardless how fervently we wish to keep them forever just as they were in that first moment, forever is a petition granted no one in this lifetime. We marvel at the engineering that created them, but snow always warms into water, and the awesome artistry of our own favorite snowflake eventually dissolves back into elemental homogeny. But what a wondrous time we had when we cradled them in the palm of our hand, unapologetically, inarguably ours. "A Snowflake Fell" is Jack Prelutsky at his utmost, as good as any verse Shel Silverstein wrote, the magnum opus of an author whose crowning as Children's Poet Laureate of the United States was affirmation to every youngster who ever picked up a Prelutsky poem and loved what they read.

"When Snowflakes Are Fluttering" uses the most gorgeous language of the entire volume, vivid, sensuous descriptions of snow in its varied forms. "When snowflakes are fluttering fluttering fluttering down in the cold winter night, I watch with surprise, as they fill up my eyes with uncountable pinpoints of light." "When snowflakes are shimmering shimmering shimmering gently on top of my hair, to give me a crown of soft powdery down, I wish they would always be there." Some of the prettiness of "When Snowflakes Are Fluttering" is the use of special fonts, which can't be reproduced in this review, but the effulgent language speaks for itself. Even without the sixteenth poem, It's Snowing! It's Snowing! would have ended on a high note for the inclusion of "When Snowflakes Are Fluttering".

"My Snowman sadly bowed
his head
in March, one sunny day,
and this is what he softly said
before he went away:

'In the middle of December
I was handsome, round,
and tall,
now I hardly can remember
those December days at all.
Oh my stomach's started
shrinking,
I am losing all my form,
and I'm thinking as I'm
shrinking
that I wish it weren't warm.

I can feel my shoulders
stooping
as my body's getting thin,
my nose has started
drooping
and my mouth has lost
its grin,
I am surely getting
shorter,
there is little left
of me,
my head is but a quarter
of the size it used to be.

I am getting hard of hearing
and my vision's little use,
for my ears are disappearing
and my eyes are coming loose.
Through the icy weeks
of winter
I stood prouder than a king,
now I'm thinner than
a splinter,
winter's melting into spring!'"

—"The Snowman's Lament", PP. 44-48

The last poem of the lot, The Snowman's Lament, is as emotional as anything in this collection, a profoundly poignant construct about the transience of life and how fleeting one's time is at the top of the mountain. Our best days whiz by as quickly as they do because we're never going to be ready for them to end; once we've tasted the pleasures of achievement and personal contentment, we'll never happily settle for less. Life is shorter than we care to admit, and the time is nigh upon us when the superb strength we depended on to carry the day so many times will falter, and a wave of melting heat unlike any we've encountered will be too much to withstand. But though we're shrinking by the day and can't figure out how to freeze time for even a moment to regain our bearings and appreciate the twilight of our season in the sun as the clock runs out on us, it's not all bad. What we have today melts only because spring is imminent, the renewal of all that's excellent and beautiful and worthy just like what we held dear in the halcyon days of our past. There's a new chapter to write, pen poised to start scrawling, a new season of warmth and vitality following on the heels of prolonged winter. As excruciating as the process of death and rebirth is, sometimes it's best to start over, and our cherished days of yore won't be forgotten in the rejuvenation of seasons to come. There's always another spring, summer, fall, and winter to follow, and as long as that cycle remains, so too will our hope of revisiting past glories through the miracle of renewal.

Jack Prelutsky is purveyor of more quality poetry than just about any other children's author in American history, but he's raised the bar for himself in It's Snowing! It's Snowing! Several strong selections stand out, but to me this anthology clearly revolves around "One Last Little Leaf", "A Snowflake Fell", and "The Snowman's Lament", three of the best pieces Jack Prelutsky ever composed. Chiefly because of those three poems, I'm rating It's Snowing! It's Snowing! three and a half stars, and seriously considered rounding that up to four. Procuring two copies of the book—one with Jeanne Titherington's illustrations, the other with Yossi Abolafia's—is worth the time and effort, as the poems feel quite different depending on who's bringing them to visual life. If I were to suggest just one Jack Prelutsky book to get a reader hooked on his writing, it would probably be It's Snowing! It's Snowing!, which is saying a lot for the creator of so many volumes of distinguished poetry adored by multiple generations. I love this book more than I know how to express, and hope it stands through time as testament to one of the great youth poets the world has known. See you next winter, Jack Prelutsky, when you and every gentle snowflake and proud snowman anyone ever loved will once again reanimate in the pages of this book. I look forward to it.

[✨Arline✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poems are fun but illustrations are just okay.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book and was excited to share all the poetry filled in with my kids. My kids loved the different type of poems. The illustrations by Yossi Ablafia were amazing and colorful. My kids really liked listening to the pages and my older two kids loved reading some of the poems in their free time. This book is fun and I recommend checking it out.

[Jose Cazares · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed It's Snowing! It's Snowing!: Winter Poems because its simplicity! It was short and sweet but at the same time, those two compliments are the same things that can be used against it. You can criticize this book for being so simple and short. It is a tiny book but it depends what you like. I also think it is appropriate for this time of the year.

[Luann · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's no wonder that Jack Prelutsky was the first Children's Poet Laureate! This collection has some particularly nice poems about snow and winter. Probably my favorite is also the shortest one in the book:

A snowflake fell into my hand,
a tiny, fragile gem,
a frosty crystal flowerlet
with petals, but no stem.

I wondered at the beauty
of its intricate design,
I breathed, the snowflake vanished,
but for moments, it was mine.

I also really liked "I am Freezing!" "My Mother's Got Me Bundled Up," and "When Snowflakes are Fluttering." I read some of these in my library classes this week as we talked about descriptive words and phrases. He has some nice ones: "Snow carpets the ground, / the air is a silvery blur / that's whiter than paper, / and whiter than milk, / and whiter than polar bear fur." Also: "When snowflakes are / fluttering fluttering fluttering / down in the cold winter night, / I watch with surprise, / as they fill up my eyes / with uncountable pinpoints of light."

[Hannah Monroe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of winter-themed poetry for early readers. This is a level 3 book, so it is for independent reading. These poems do not create a story, so children can read them in any order they want. Some of the poems included are: "It's Snowing! It's Snowing!" "Shadow Thought," "My Mother Took Me Skating," "Stuck in the Snow," and "The Snowman's Lament," along with many more!
I gave this book 5 stars. Poetry is a very intimidating genre for children. This book would help introduce children into poetry and show them that it doesn't have to be very difficult. Many of the poems feature abab rhyme schemes, along with some abcb schemes and some are free verse. This book is full of examples for teaching students about poetry. I also like that it includes colorful illustrations to help tell the story of each poem, making it even easier for children to understand the content and form.

[Melena Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never been a huge fan of poetry, but I loved reading all of these poems. The author does a great job using vocabulary words such as nibble, stubborn, whirling, and galoshes that describe the winter months and winter activities. I would use this book in a late 1st, 2nd or early 3rd grade classroom because some vocabulary is complex and the plots of each poem can be tricky for children to understand without having a discussion. During the months of December and January- I would read one of these poems daily and discuss rhyming words, vocabulary words/ definitions, and determine what the poem is about with the students while making text to self-connections. The poems are just the right size and may turn reluctant readers to read while working on comprehension skills.

[Nicole Woolwine · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5
1984
Poetry
4th-6th grade
I loved this poetry book because it’s all based around winter time, which I love. The short poems all had rhyme and rhythm and had illustrations to go with them for eCh page which made for a great visual!
Defiantly would use this book when teaching a poetry lesson to show the different topic and varieties of poems you could create!
I also enjoyed these poems because they were quick reads and I believe if you read them to lower elementary they would understand and enjoy them as well! Highly recommend!

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book celebrates the fun of snowy winter days with sixteen fun poems. The rollicking, rhyming text and warm, friendly illustrations show the joys of bundling up in a ton of warm clothes, sledding, building snowmen, and even catching a cold. This would be a terrific book to have on your bookshelf as part of a seasonal poetry collection.

[Erin B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: poetry; grades: K-3. I found these poems so funny and relatable. I think this would be a perfect poetry book to showcase throughout winter in a classroom. Any of these poems can be relatable, as they go through real life complaints, experiences, and more. Definitely one of my favorite poetry books I’ve read!

[Carly Bontrager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry
2nd-4th grade
I really liked the different poems in this book! I thought each poem did a really good job describing what winter is like using some of the five senses. I also really liked some of the illustrations and how they added to the poem. This would be a great book to introduce when talking baking winter or poems!

[Allison Tubaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: poetry

Grades 2-5

This book is full of humorous poetry about winter and snow. I recommend this book for a read aloud in your class because not only can you work on poetry skills, but it is funny, the illustrations are very well drawn and the poems are relatable.

[Jessica Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a very good book for children who are just starting to read. It would even be a good book for kindergarteners or 1st graders who struggle with reading. It would also be good for kindergarteners to read for when they are learning how to comprehend a book.

[Lauren Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry
K-3rd

I loved this book because it had different poems that talked about the winter. I would use this book in my classroom, to talk about rhyming words and the different types of poems. Overall I really enjoyed this book!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to check this out when I saw it was by Jack Prelutsky because I love the Awful Ogre books. It's a good little collection of (non-holiday/non-religious) winter poems for early readers. My favorite was "Winter's Come."

[Kimberly Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute easy reader level 3 poem book about winter and snow. Cutely illustrated and fun poems. Good for grades 2-5.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little long, but cute.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alissa liked the ice skating scene.

[Elly Schultz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Poetry Grade: 2-5
This is a Poetry book about winter. How different elements of things happen during the winter season.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun winter Poems to read aloud to my 1st grader.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute early reader poetry book that has kids reading silly winter stories while they learn about cadence and rhymes.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved having these poems read to me! And I really liked the illustrations too c:

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, fun, rhythmic poems. I even had to look up a word. The illustrations were soft and perfect.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be such a good book to make a weekly read! When winter comes on, set aside a little time on the same day each week. Grab a blanket, make some hot chocolate and cuddle together through these sixteen delightful winter poems. Not only will it be fun, but it will be forever memorable. Children love routines and things to look forward to and starting the habit young for setting aside time for reading is never a bad idea.

Reading Level: K - 3rd grades

Cleanliness: mentions a tobacco pipe, dragon, and unicorn. A boy lands on his behind.

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[Souaad Asar · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’s snowing by Jack Prelutsky. The poem covers signs of winter, winter activities, and a child's necessary adaptations to survive the cold. I have lots of memory about this book. On winter 07 my sister was visiting me with her three years old son and one time during the snow time my nephew asked who spilled milk everywhere. He did not believe it was snow until I took him outside and put him on the snow. He was so cute I just cannot forget his littlie face when he said wow it is not milk it is snow. My nephew loves looking at the pictures in this book. The poems are humorous and good quality for young readers. I also like this book because of the design look like they were illustrated by a child. The language of the poem was okay and children are able to understand it. It would be encouraging to children to read. It is a very cute poetry book for young readers. The choice of adjectives and sequence were appropriate. The length of the poetry was appropriate for young readers.

[Lauren Derosa]

I enjoyed this book because it is all about winter time and the different highs and lows it brings. I thought that the pictures really added to the text in the book because they brought the words from the text to life. They made this book fun to read and I think that they would capture a child's attention and draw them into the book. I also noticed that at the beginning of some of the paragraph's there was repetition, where each of the beginning sentences would start with the same words like "My mother" or "My snowman". Another aspect of the book which I thought children would enjoy is that specific texts are typed in different patterns for example; “fluttering” is typed where each letter is at different height than the other. One more point I found was that for the poem “When Snowflakes are Fluttering”, there are different colored snowflakes throughout the page. I think this adds detail and color to the page which every kid would love!

[Kaitlyn Petkowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a set of poems about the progression of winter. Each poem focus on another part of winter, ranging from winter beginning and leaves leaving the trees to winter ending and the snowman melting.

I enjoyed how each poem was a different piece of winter that the narrator experienced. I also liked the progression it showed. The book begin with winter just beginning. Then it reached the middle of winter where the mother is bundling up the child before he goes outside. Finally ending with winter ending and seeing the effects of each of these changes.

The illustrations generally take up half of the page. They utilize lighter colors mainly because of the snow, but also everyone's clothes are brighter tones. This gives the reader a happy feeling. Each picture also has a white border surrounding it, so none f these pictures bleed. For this type of book I find this appropriate.

[K.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prelutsky, Jack. (2006). It's snowing! It's snowing!: Winter poems. New York: Harper Collins.

Category: poetry, beginning reader

This collection of 17 short poems about winter is a joy for kids of all ages! Easy enough for confident new readers (#3-reading alone, I Can Read Book), but clever enough to be enjoyed by older students as well. They cover such topics as the last leaf of autumn, December short days, fun days playing in the snow, snowfalls that lead to school closings, big winter shadows, signs of winter - each a great discussion or journal starter about winter. Another Prelutsky gem!

Themes: winter, snow

Classroom uses: Read-aloud, introduction to winter, journal starters, rhyming words, poetry

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis: "From master of rhyme Jack Prelutsky comes a flurry of winter poetry just right to usher in the season of ice and snow!"

My Review: This is a fun book to read in the winter to late spring. It is set as a Level 3 for beginning readers, though it can be enjoyed by any level. The poems are mostly short poems and have similar rhymes and rhythms of some of the more lyrical style children's books. The subject of the poems is obviously snow but some are soft and sweet, some are silly and some are wistful. I found that this is best read with a little one a little at a time, since there is no real story in the book they will loose interest quickly.