White Snow, Bright Snow

by Alvin Tresselt, Roger Duvoisin (Illustrator)

When the first flakes fell from the grey sky, the postman and the farmer and the policeman and his wife scurried about doing all the practical things grownups do when a snowstorm comes. But the children laughed and danced, and caught the lacy snowflakes on their tongues. All the wonder and delight a child feels in a snowfall is caught in the pages of this book -- the frost ferns on the window sill, the snow man in the yard and the mystery and magic of a new white world. Roger Duvoisin's pictures in soft blue half-tones with briliant splashes of yellow and red emphasize the gaiety and humor as well as the poetic quality of the text.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Classics, Christmas, Nature, Realistic Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1947

About the author

Alvin Tresselt (1916-2000) was born in New Jersey. He was an editor for Humpty Dumpty magazine and an executive editor for Parent’s Magazine Press before becoming an instructor and the Dean of Faculty for the Institute of Children’s Literature in Connecticut. He wrote over thirty children’s books, selling over a million copies. Although White Snow, Bright Snow won the Caldecott Medal in 1948, his best-known book is a retelling of the Ukranian folk tale The Mitten. Tresselt was a pioneer in children’s writing, well known for his poetic prose style. He created the “mood” picture book, in which the setting and description for a story was even more important than the characters and plot.
Memoria Press First Grade Enrichment Guide

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a fine poem about the snow to open the book that I really enjoyed. In the early 40s publishers would use 3 colors - black, white and then one color like red or something. Now in '47, this book is using 5 colors - black, white, red, yellow and green. It gives a striking palate to work with.

This is a lovely book about snow and how people get ready for it. Kids are playing in the snow. It ends with a robin showing up.

The nephew thought it was ok. He's more ready for summer, not winter.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations in grey, white, yellow, orange and olive green show a group of houses and their inhabitants as it is about to snow. People speculate about the snows arrival and children get excited. No big storyline just a look into life in America in the late 1940s. A quiet, understated book about a snowy day.

[Belen · Rating 4 out of 5]

White Snow, Bright Snow is a short story about the last snow of the season. It talks about how a farmer, policeman, wife, and postman prepare themselves as they sense and see snow coming down. It describes how adults and children see this snow fall, as well as the animals. This book really captures how much fun children have in the snow and how snow is to be enjoyed. I liked how it talks about what kind of clothing to use in the winter, as it gets colder and when it gets warmer. It also emphasizes the season changing to Spring as the children see a Robin. This book would be perfect for 2-4 graders and will definitely bring a great discussion about seasons, appropriate clothing for the weather, and how adults and children enjoy the weather differently.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kids and adults have different reactions when a heavy snowstorm blankets the town.

There's a lovely, old-fashioned feel to this one - well, it was first published in 1947.
Children may not enjoy the somewhat dreary illustrations, but I sure did.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 STARS

This won the Caldecott Medal in 1947. I'm not really "up" with my 1940s picture book knowledge so don't have any way of saying if it deserved it. It's certainly not one of my top illustrated reads. But, that said, I really did enjoy reading it since it just feels so nostalgic and nice--like watching one of those great old Christmas movies or some old slides of my parents' childhood Christmas mornings ;-) The story itself is pretty simple, nothing really stellar in the telling; it's been a few weeks since I read it and I honestly can't remember much except that it's about a town experiencing a snowfall and then a snow melt. No real characters, just a sense of place and happening.

[Book Concierge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Illustrated by Roger Duvoisin

This 1948 Caldecott winner looks at the effects of a major snowstorm on the people of a town and on the farm. As the snowflakes begin the mailman puts on his galoshes, children play, a farmer feeds his stock, the policeman’s wife makes sure he does not get a chill. When winter really sets in, things look different – softer, rounder. Children make snow forts and have major snowball fights. The mailman puts on heavier clothes and high boots. The policeman succumbs to a cold. The farmer clears a path to his barn. And everyone waits for spring.

At first I really liked Roger Duvoisin’s illustrations, with a grey, wintery palette, interspersed with a touch of color here and there. But over the course of the book I grew tired of the muted colors. Even when Spring arrives his palette remains dark. The message of the book was happy, but I didn’t think the illustrations matched that mood.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite Caldecott books. I've read this one many times, and felt all over again all the things I feel every time we have a big snowstorm. The anticipation...the way the snow falls, the way it melts away afterwards. This captures winter so beautifully that I have to sit back and sigh. The pictures seem dated, but it's part of the fun, getting a glimpse of yesteryear and seeing all the connections to today.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The poem is the strength of this book, for me. The tri-color illustrations are dark and gloomy, show little movement, and the layout sometimes negatively impacts our ability to see the text. Probably in 1947 this was a gorgeous book, but it isn't standing the test of time for me.

[Shanna Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alvin Tresselt has a gift for describing natural phenomena in a way that is easy for children to understand. This story opens with three poetic stanzas giving tribute to a snowfall, then proceeds into a story in which a 1940's small town experiences a snowfall. Each of the four grownups in the story attends to adult activities to prepare for the snow, but the children anticipate it gleefully, waiting for the magic of snow which means an instant holiday. While the adults man shovels, catch colds, and fall into snowbanks, the children build snowmen and snow forts and have a snowball fight. As the story concludes, the weather warms and the children meet the first robin of Spring.

This pleasant story captures the experience of a small community's winter, told in evocative, almost poetic prose. Readers will identify with the gleeful children who get to play in the snow; but they will also have the chance view a snowfall through adult eyes. While some of the story's details (mustard plaster and street lamps) are time-delimited, the descriptions of ice and snow, and the kinds of games the children play, have a timeless appeal that is only augmented by the book's nostalgic mood.

Like most picture books printed in the 1940's, the book is illustrated using only four colors. Some children may not appreciate the simple pictures, but the quality of the writing makes the book worth reading.

[Jaelyn Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

White Snow, Bright Snow, by Alvin Tresselt is about the first snow falling of the year. The story is about how everyone deals with it the snow differently depending on their jobs and their age. More specifically it mentions a farmer, a police officer, a mailman, bunnies and children. When it snowed the adults just went about their normal routines and doing their everyday jobs, while the children played and were very curious about the snow. Then finally as the snow went away it was time for spring.
The major theme of the story was that during the first snow fall of the year is normal to adults because they have been through it before, however, the children were filled with wonder and because they have not experienced snow many times wanted to be outside and explore.
I would give this book a 5-star rating.
I really enjoyed all the pictures in this book and how it made me feel excited for the snow and the winter season. I am from Southern California where it does not snow much so I can relate to the feeling of excitement the kids have when being out in the snow for the first snow fall of the year.
I would recommend this book because it can be a good discussion starter, talking about seasons with your students. It would also just be a fun book to read right before winter break to get the kids excited.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the adults around them make preparations for a possible large snowfall, the children just can't wait to frolic as the fleecy flakes float down from the sky. The poetic text and color-splashed illustrations capture the anticipation and delight with which the snow is greeted. Because the illustrator has chosen a primarily gray palette, the touches of red and yellow he uses really stand out. I like a lot of the language used in the book ["Automobiles looked like big fat raisins buried in snowdrifts," unpaged] and how the text and illustrations trace the snow from when there are only signs that it's on the way to after it has melted, and spring is just around the corner. I can remember reading this when I was a little girl and marveling at the passage of time. I still enjoyed it now that I'm an adult.

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again, I'm the killjoy who judges books outside of the parameters of where/when they were created. I really loved every single thing about this book except that the one female character - the only one! - isn't addressed by her own identity, but rather that of the nearest man to her (who is she? The homemaker? The talented knitter? The thoughtful caregiver/nurse? The most practical adult in the book? No, she's "the policeman's wife"!) & that it so starkly demonstrates the average life of a small-town American woman of the 1940's. I get so burned up by it that I want to put the book down & stomp off to find myself a bottle of mother's little helper in sympathy. Man, reading older picture books as a rather opinionated adult is a trip.

[Nika · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Fenceposts lost their duncecaps."

Please. I love this book, both for words and illustrations. The humor about the policeman's wife is subtle and lovely.

[Margaret Chind · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy the poetry and prose most of all but the four color illustrations are interesting. Another one to buy later from a Memoria Press recommendation.

[Krysta · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy gender stereotypes, Batman!

[Reem · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it was a good book. In my opinion I would have liked there to be more detail but I get that this was mainly focusing on what people do in cold days.

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute children's book about waiting for the first snow and then after winter waiting for the first signs of spring. A well written fun easy book to read.

[Marti (Letstalkaboutbooksbaybee) · Rating 4 out of 5]

1948 Caldecott winner challenge

This was a very lovely little wintery book. I’d check this out again for my kiddo when winter starts back up, it’s a little dated for sure but in a charming way.

[Tiuri · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you let it really sink in, it’s quite charming and magical. How I love snow.

[Kayla]

The book White Snow Bright Snow was very interesting. The book started out where there was no snow however several characters quickly figured out that it was about to snow. The characters were the mailman, the police officer, the police officers wife, and the farmer. The characters all took action to prepare for the snow in a variety of different ways. They all took caution including the bunnies. The book is a fairly normal length book. Everyone in the town is loving winter until one morning they wake up to a clear blue sky. They then change back into their old routines that they did at the beginning of the book. The bunnies come out of their hiding place, the postman put on his normal boots, the farmer got his normal boots, and the cop went back to work. They then realized when they saw the cardinal that Spring was beginning.

Throughout the book their are various elements that Alvin Tresselt does. Tresselt uses a lot of vertical lines in his pictures. He uses them to draw his trees and all of his houses. This ultimately makes the page feel way bigger than it actually is. Another thing that he does is he uses very minimal colors. He uses a total of four colors black, white, orange, and yellow. The colors that he uses helps to illustrate a calm and peaceful atmosphere. The black is used just the right amount to not override the calming appeal to the story. The story also includes several triangles and squares. The house has several squares and the chimneys are triangles. The pictures that are illustrated are to perfect either. To explain more the illustrate made it look like the peoples' clothes had movement in them. This made it a lot easier to comprehend and actually visualize exactly what it was that was going on in the story. The story also kind of ends where it starts. The characters at the beginning of the story change what they wear and what they do, while at the end of the story the ams thing happens. The only difference is the fact that the season is different. Overall, the author does a good job at keeping to story simple which in the end works out perfectly.

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Executive Summary: "White Snow, Bright Snow" revolves around the idea of a snowstorm invading the lives of a community. The author includes characters such as the policeman and his wife, the postman and a farmer. He also includes children and a few animals to help reveal each reaction when the snowstorm hits. Each character plays their own role, some humorous and some serious, in the story, while the focus of the illustrations centers on the characters in the snow. By the end, winter passes and spring has come, told by a robin's chirp for all to hear.

Main Themes: Throughout the story, a few central themes exist including: seasonal change, engaging responsibility, and differing perspectives.

Star Rating: 3 stars. I enjoyed the book but found the placement of the text to be very random and the story to be prolonged. In my opinion, it would lose the interest of children reading the book (or being read the story) because of its length.

Personal Response: I find the story to be somewhat humorous and fun. However, the central themes throughout the book only run so far deep beyond their surface levels. The seasons change, as the seasons of life change for the children and the adults; yet, their levels of responsibility and their perspectives differ based on this change. Beyond these ideas, very few themes exist beyond the enjoyment of good illustrations and an enlightening story. Still, the author does a fantastic job in accomplishing this task. If anything, this story makes me wish it would snow instead of simply being cold and windy here in Fort Worth!

Why I Recommend It: I'm not sure I would recommend this book over others, but I would still recommend it due to its award-winning status and usage of many differing characters. "White Snow, Bright Snow" won the Caldecott Medal primarily for its illustrations, as well as its text. Much of the story relies on the pictures, but the length of text confuses this idea. However, it is still an enjoyable book to read.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

White Snow, Bright Snow is a sweet story that captures both the magic and mystery that comes with winter and its snow and the delight and anticipation that comes with the new growth of the spring. Throughout the story, the reader follows a flurry of characters from the postman to the farmer and the policeman to the children, and the little rabbits aren’t forgotten. As the reader, we get to see them explore the cold and the snow of winter and how they go about their lives during the snow of the season. We then see the snow melt and the spring burst through, and again get a peek into how the characters we have been following will embrace the coming spring.
White Snow, Bright Snow is quite simple in both its words and illustrations. The simplicity of the words and colors makes sense, especially for the time, as this book was published in 1947. Its words are easy enough for a child of practically any reading level to work through and they get the job done. Its illustrations are very basic and never stray very far away from the colors red, yellow, green, gray, and white. Even with the cold being described, the warm colors of the illustrations give the book something of a warm and homely feel. The pictures cover the entirety of each page which is certainly appealing, but provides the reader with an intriguing challenge in attempting to read the gray words on a gray background. This challenge may make the book fun for a younger child to read with the help of an adult. I also found that I often missed the connection between the bright, white snow and the dull illustrations. This could also make reading this book with an adult a better experience for the reader so that the young reader could have any questions answered about the illustrations or the time period that the book was published.

[Gracie Tate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is a nostalgic tale of a snowy winter night in a small 1940s town. The grownups accommodate snow into their usual activities, with some exceptions, and the snow paints a picturesque view of the town. The children are in absolute awe at the beauty and excitement of the snowfall. Winter continues and, after each description of the weather, the actions of the people are retold. The author shows what the postman does, what the farmer does, what the policeman and his wife do, and what the children do. The story ends with the dissipation of the snow and a robin telling the children that spring had come at last. The theme of this book is that beauty and joy can be found in the smallest of things, specifically in winter. It is easy to forget to appreciate your surroundings during a certain season when you are caught up in school, holidays, and other things. I really like this book because I think it creates a homey feel while capturing the beauty that is associated with snow. It is very reflective of the time period it was written in, but I also think it has a timeless sense to it because the subject is winter. I never got to experience much snow during the winter unless I travelled outside of Texas, so I can relate to the sense of wonder the children in the story have as opposed to the sense of familiarity the adults who are accustomed to snow have. I would recommend this book to older children because it is a very text heavy book. The age of the book also contributes to the language of the text being a little harder to read for younger, newer readers. This book would be great for lessons about winter or about the changing of seasons from winter to spring. It would also be a good read to talk about appreciation of the things we take for granted, like how wonderful this world is.

[Mili Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have thoroughly enjoyed this story, even though it brings memories of the horrible Toronto winters in July. The poem had me a bit confused, because I thought it was a part of the story, so when I got to the first page of the actual story and everyone was saying how the snow was coming, but the poem said it covered the roads and fences... Well, I thought I may have missed a page or something. :-)

However, I love the simple loving story of the coming and leaving of snow. It was a different time and way of life way back in 1947 when the story was first published, but everything in the story is still true today. The adults have to go to work, while children love to play in the snow. I miss the days when snow meant snowmen, forts, and snowball fights. At this point in my life snow means grabbing a shovel and shovelling until I collapse, while work awaits in the never-quite-warm house.

It would be interesting to see what a modern writer could do with this story. For one thing there would not be a patiently waiting, caring, policeman's wife concerned with her husband's needs; though there are probably many of those in real life. I also doubt that there would be the simple peace of the story--something hectic would be happening and all the people would be rushing about forgetting to breathe.

I also find the illustrations quite charming, though the colour pallet is quite hideous in my opinion--people with orange-red faces are quite garish. I find I am not able to look at an illustration for too long. I'm also wondering if there was an accident at the printers resulting in this book.

However, the characters are charming, and the lines, beautiful.

[Cade Bethea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age Group: 4-7 (grades prek-2nd)

Summary: The Postman, Framer, Policeman, and his wife, said it looked and felt like it was going to snow. Then suddenly, it began to snow. The adults all prepared for the snow. The kids loved the snow. It was everywhere and turned everything white. There was so much snow. The children even dreamed of snow. When everyone was asleep the snow stopped. But the next morning the snow as still everywhere. Everyone adjusted to the large amount of snow. Each day the snow melted more and more. Everyone started to enjoy the bright sunshine as the season changed and the snow was quickly forgotten.

Theme: There is beauty and life in each season. This story particularly focuses on the several individual people and how they work and act during the change of season. This story takes place during a snowy winter and ends at the beginning of spring. Each season is different, but beautiful in their own ways.

Personal Response: I think this story is so accurately told and so true of real world people. Everyone always has a myth for why it is going to snow and everyone also has a typical snow routine. This story does a great job of putting to life what it is like as the seasons come and go.

Recommendation: This story would be so wonderful for anyone teaching or wanting to talk about seasons because I feel like it is written very accurately.

Key Quote: "The sound of dripping running water and the smell of wet brown earth filled the warm air."

[Chaitra · Rating 3 out of 5]

White Snow, Bright Snow focuses on 4 major characters - the postman, the farmer, the policeman and his wife, with children and rabbits to provide a contrast. The reactions of all these characters are captured, first to the possibility of snow, then to actual snow and clearing up and lastly to the coming spring. I did find it funny that the postman, the farmer and the children actually have snow falling on them or them falling in the snow, and the policeman is the one who catches a cold. That's a bit like me.

My son liked it to begin with, but then he got bored when he realized no snowplow was forthcoming. I thought the words were a little awkward, or maybe they were just positioned awkwardly? I kept thinking I should read it like a song, and in certain portions they rhymed. But it's actually a story, with run-on sentences. I was terrible at reading this book aloud. Too, there's the weirdness of the book's pictures. I wonder how the book was bound originally, because in my copy, key details were missing because they were hidden in the crease of the spine. One of them had the farmer shoveling all the way to the barn (we could see the house and the barn, but the farmer and his shovel were mostly covered off), and the postman falling off in the snow (this was even worse because it took 3 pairs of eyes to figure out where the postman was, and even then we weren't sure).

All in all, it's an okay book, with some good drawings (where we can see the details), but we won't be re-reading it.

[McKenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt and is about a town that gets a big snowfall and how snow meant different things to different people in the town. For the postman, farmers and policemen the snow meant more clothes to wear while working and putting animals away in the barn. For the wives of these men it meant making sure they had cold medicine and made more warm clothes for them to wear to work. For the children in the town it meant playing all day outside with friends, building snow houses, snowmen and having snowball fights. In the middle of the night, the snow stopped falling and the stars came out and in the morning the sun was shining to greet the townspeople. As the day went on the snow started to melt and soon there was no more white to be seen. It was warmer out now and everyone was going about work as usual as the birds started to come and started singing like they were welcoming spring into the little town. The illustrations are mostly grey and white to show the snow falling but the people and buildings are all colored in very bright colors. My favorite illustration in the book was the page that it stopped snowing and the stars came out because everything in the picture is either white or grey except two small windows in the building, one yellow and one red. I think the illustrator chose the colors this way because even on the most gloomy looking day, you can always find a bright spot.

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

SUMMARY: This story shows different perspectives and preparations people make as the change in weather for wintertime occurs. The story opens with a few lines on a blank page talking about the night it began to snow in a town. After turning the page, the story unfolds to how different individuals prepared for the snow. A farmer brings his cattle in, a postman puts on snow boots, a wife prepares medicine for her police-officer husband, and children anxiously await for time to play in it. The images only contain a few colors--red, yellow, black, and white. The story then progresses and describes the heavy falling of the snow. Winter then passes and green colors appear on the pages.

THEME: We all prepare for weather or “the storm” differently. This looked different for all the characters, but regardless, they commonly enjoyed the beauty of the snow.

PERSONAL RESPONSE: While I am a native Texan, I remember the magical mornings I woke up and saw a beautiful blanket of white snow. It means school being canceled, hot chocolate and snowball men. Of course, we never get enough snow to make a full snowman. I hope to one day experience a thick blanket of snow like they do in this book and have the ability to prepare like they did.

WHY I RECOMMEND: I think this would be a great book for a parent to read to their child when they are stuck inside on a snowy day. It can help ignite a deeper appreciation and love for the wintry weather.

[Madison · Rating 2 out of 5]

White Snow Bright Snow is a realistic fiction picture book published in 1947 with a Caldecott Award in 1948. The story in this book is about a very small town that has a snow flurry come though and the postman, farmer, police officer can sense the snow and begin preparing for the weather while the kids play in the snow once it’s come. From the adults perspective there is stress as the storm comes and much preparation. From the kids perspective they love the snow because they get to play outside in it and make snowmen. There is also a group of rabbits that seem to parallel the kids throughout the story as they too are jumping in the snow, playing, and snuggle up into their warm homes at night. The illustrations are realism because they portray real situations. However, the colors are limited to greys, red, vibrant yellow, and olive green which are not realistic. Overall the illustrations are very simple but add a lot to the story by portraying the writing accurately. I did find however that the colors made me feel on edge as I was reading it which made me feel dissonance between the calmness of the literature and the illustrations shown. Furthermore, although the book was well written I personally didn’t find it relatable and couldn’t connect to it. It may be because American literature and what is popular today is much different than 60 years ago. So, although it’s a classic I don’t necessarily recommend it.

[Courtney Seiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

White Snow Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin is a Caldecott Award winner. The story is about how the people in the town prepare for a blizzard, and what they do when the snow melts and spring comes. Although the bright red-skinned people in the book caught me off guard, I understand why Duvoisin used the bright colors. The bright colors of the people, the children’s jackets, and the houses stand out against the gray background at night, and the bright white background in the daytime. I believe the illustrations were done in watercolors because of their soft texture, and the blur of the edges. The illustrations are soft and simple, just like the scene of a snowy day and the beginning of the spring is. The illustrations are a mix of double and single page spread as well as panel. I really enjoyed the depiction of night and day in the illustrations. The white snow at night is a great display of the impressionistic style used in the book. The blurry lines and vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows offer a nostalgic and timeless feel to the book. Since the text is lengthy at times, I would not recommend this book to young children or beginning readers. I think it is great for read-alouds and for older children to read alone. I would use this book in my classroom to talk about the seasons changing. I would ask the children what they do to prepare for the snow and how they feel when the snow disappears and the spring begins.