There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow!

There Was an Old Lady

by Lucille Colandro, Jared Lee (Illustrator)

There was a cold lady who swallowed some snow. I don't know why she swallowed some snow. Perhaps you know.

This time, the old lady is swallowing everything from snow to a pipe, some coal, a hat, and more! With rollicking, rhyming text and funny illustrations, this lively version will appeal to young readers with every turn of the page. And this time, there's a surprise at the end no reader will be able to guess!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Christmas, Fiction, Humor, Storytime, Holiday

32 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1995

Reviews

[Mya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very interesting concept, but not in a good way.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a little awkward to read aloud

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part of the book, riffing on the traditional nursery rhyme about the old lady who swallows a fly, is so dull it lulls you into stop paying attention so it can pull off an almost-clever twist ending. Having finished the book, I then remembered it did the same thing to me twenty years ago when I first and last read it.

Note to self: read again in twenty years to be surprised again.

Side note: I'm am stunned to see that this is part of a series of twenty-three (23 !!?!?!?!!) books at this point.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

My students got a real laugh out of this one. We made our own Cold Ladies (which of course turned into minions & random characters) and used them with a story retelling activity.

[Ellon · Rating 2 out of 5]

While students got a kick out of the snowman at the end, this was an awkward book to read aloud, unlike the other “There Was An Old Lady” books, due to the lack of rhythm and rhyme. :(

[Alyssa Flanagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: There Was A Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow
Author: Lucille Colandro
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Publication Date: 2003
Number of Pages: 32
Summary: This is a well known series of books. You never know what that old lady is going to swallow next! This book is all about the old lady swallowing things that have to do with winter and snow. First she swallows snow then she swallows a pipe and before you know it she has all of these wintery things in her stomach! At the end of the book she ends up using everything in her stomach that she has swallowed to make a snowman. It’s a funny book that makes children giggle as they read and learn about all the crazy things that the old lady swallows.

Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: PreK-2nd grade
Lexile Level: 610
GR Level: K
Teaching Ideas (with Common Core Standards):
Throughout the book the old lady swallows a variety of items. As you read through the book each page introduces a new item that is swallowed. Then they gave over all of the items that have been swallowed thus far. The book is great to helps students with sequencing events.

I would have the students create their own books recreating and putting the book in order of what happened.
Another idea would be to give each of the students their own card with an item from the book. The students would then need to work together to stand in the order the book happened. Then we would create a chart together discussing what happened first, next, then and last.

W.K.3- Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

She ate a snowman. I do wish that there was a reason that she swallowed one thing to chase another and for it to rhyme more but it's a nonsensical holiday book that I rather enjoyed.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little cold lady swallowed some snow (no one knows why), and continues to swallow a hat, coal, a stick, a scarf….and when she sneezes, out comes a (surprise!)
Repetitive, but cute. I ended this one by telling my little audience not to try this at home.

[Kelly Carey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish the relationship and order of the items she swallowed made more sense.

[ERICA]

There was a cold lady who swallowed snow is a cute rhyming and sequencing book. The cold lady swallowed snow, pipe, coal, a hat and a lot more things. The book has creative, colorful illustration. This is a good sequencing and prediction book for younger students. Students can put the sequence cards in the order that the story occurred. Or students, can create their own illustrations of sequence of events. As a class or in groups, the students can rewrite the story. At the end there can be a surprise similar to the snowman.

[Cam · Rating 3 out of 5]

My soon to be 1st grader read this with no problem. This book is a repeat of words throughout the book. If your not familiar with this series of books .... a old woman swallows a list of items that leaves the reader to guess what she’s going to burp up at the end. This book is the cold woman swallows snow, corn cob pipe, coal, hat, scarf...and out comes a snowman.

[Autumn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping the old lady finally stopped swallowing dangerous objects but clearly she has not. The lack of rhythm and rhyme made this one less fun than others i grew up with. The twist did get me though. I completely forgot that’s how these books end.

[Sandi Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great rhythms and photos

Nothing is more fun than reading a rhythmic story with my grand daughter. We own all of these books and I am amazed at how fast my 6 yr old can memorize them. Great story that is fun too. Bright pictures.

[Lynn Plourde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun idea, not-the-smoothest read though.

[Sarah (YA Love) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack likes this series of books courtesy of his kindergarten teacher this year ❄️

[Becky Loader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, my, gosh!!! Try to read this aloud without laughing! The gobbling lady eats a variety of things and ends up regurgitating a surprise. Really. Read it.

[Ananda Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for sequencing for elementary students, rhyming practice, and predictions. Only partially bothersome for this day and age is reference to a “pipe”. But overall, kids find the “there was an old lady..” SUPER entertaining so always a good go-to series!! :)

[Johnboy Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this to mom on Christmas Day
And it’s not cold outside lol

[Kayla Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty sure I can read this entire book without looking at a single word at this point. My children adore this, it's a fantastic read aloud, and it never gets old. Highly recommended.

[Kyrie Mendonca · Rating 5 out of 5]

There Was A Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow! is a fun story to read to children. In this story children learn words that make sound and words that rhyme. There are many words in this story to teach alliteration, sound manipulation, and syllable-awareness. The children are able to predict what will happen next and that a snowman is made when the old lady hiccups! There are many descriptive words to learn in this story and many words can be used to teach on-set rime to children as well. Excellent literacy book for early learners!

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucille Colandro has developed quite a hit with her "Lady" rhyming books. She has written one for just about every holiday/season imaginable. She has the old lady swallowing bats, bells, shells, and in this latest tale, snow. Along with the snow, the lady also swallows a pipe, coal, a hat, etc and the children will fun guessing what's going to happen to her in the end. Couple this with your favorite snowman story for a fun winter storytime.

[Anna J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow by Lucille Colandro is a humorous story about a woman who swallows a variety of items such as snow, coal, etc. and eventually hiccups out a snowman. This picture book is sure to make students laugh and capture children’s attention as they try to figure out what she will swallow next. The repetitiveness and rhyme of the book will have students chiming in to “help” read the story. Scholastic recommends this book for kindergarten to second grade.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is such a thing as thing as taking something too far and this book is it! The cold lady swallows snow, who knows why, but then she swallows a pipe and some coal. It just gets worse from there. Eventually she barfs up a snowman complete with coal eyes and a pipe, but despite the fun ending, the story is just gross. I won't be using it in story time.

[Cora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Per my First Graders: It was awesome because it was funny. It was cool because it had a good ending. It was pretty because of the illustrations.

[Kiyoko · Rating 2 out of 5]

One little old lady book is enough. This one is just awful. The items make no sense, the rhymes don't follow the meter. Uggh. The kids liked the nonsense.

[Alexis Ardissone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: This tale is about a lady that swallowed snow. Once she swallowed snow, she also swallowed a pipe, coal, a black brimmed hat, a stick, and a scarf. This is a peculiar thing to do, but when she hiccupped twice, out came a snowman. The snowman was dressed with a pipe, coal, a black brimmed hat, sticks, and a scarf.

Theme: The theme of this comedic tale is imagination. A lady cannot actually swallow all of those items and hiccup out a snowman, but with a little imagination and the contents that make up a snowman, this story is possible.

Personal Response/ Recommendations: This book always made me laugh as a child. I would have so many questions about how she was swallowing all of those things, and then at the end I would burst out laughing. Reading it as an adult it was no different; I was still surprised by the ending. I would recommend this book around the holidays because of the climate and snowman references. This book would be best for a younger audience because of the simplicity of the story and the vibrant illustrations.

[zapkode · Rating 5 out of 5]

{My thoughts} – This book is much like all the other There Was an Old Lady Books that have come out. The illustrations are alright, they aren’t incredibly eye catching or appealing to younger babies as my one year old had zero interest in it. However, I can’t speak much for the older ages in which it is geared for. It is written in a rhyme/poetry form and flows quite well, however, it is a long read for a on year old and my daughter wasn’t too terribly interested in listening. She’d lost complete interest in it by the 5th page. Which I am sure is to be expected since it is above her age group.

My opinion of the book is that it is illustrated in accordance to the story within it’s pages. It is well thought out and well written. It is geared more towards older children that are able to sit still and listen to longer stories. I did enjoy the story, and think that any child that has grown to love There Was an Old Lady Books will love this story just as much.

[Deanne]

This book is about a cold lady who swallows a variety of objects: snow, a scarf, some coal, sticks, a pipe, and a hat. Then she hiccups, and out pops a snowman!

This book is a picture book, and more specifically, a picture storybook. It contains both pictures and words that work together to tell the story.

The repetition and building of the story would work well to teach cause and effect and sequencing since all parts of the snowman would need to be used in order to construct the completed whole.

This book could be used as inspiration for a writing assignment in which students use parts to construct a whole-like the parts of a snowman make the whole snowman. This book is about a 2nd grade level (2.5 AR level), so it could be used probably in grades 1-3 as a book to be read to the whole group.

Reference
AR Book Finder. (2017). Renaissance. Retrieved from http://www.arbookfind.com/default.aspx.

[Selena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: This book follows the story of a lady who shallowed some snow. The ridiculousness doesn’t stop there. Each event in the story snowballs into another absurd outcome. The ever-changing circumstances will keep readers alert and entertained.
Evaluation: This short story is a great example of cause and effect. Each event in the story builds upon the previous. The illustration shows an x-ray of the cold lady’s stomach to continue building on all the other things she had eaten throughout the story. This use of foreshadowing allows readers the opportunity to guess what will happen next as the story plot thickens.
Teaching Point: This scholastic book would be suitable for a read aloud. In the elementary classroom setting, teachers could use this book to teach students about cause and effect. This book could also be used to teach making predictions as well. Students will rejoice over this silly and unexpected story. I would use this book with students from kindergarten to third grade.

[Lillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is funny, but a bit odd. I was not a huge fan of the book. It begins with an old lady swallowing some now. Pretty similar to an old lady swallowing a fly, but instead she begins to swallow more winter things that range from snow to a pipe. She makes a snowman with all of the winter items she swallowed. I think this book had good pictures and they were well illustrated. I also believe that children would enjoy this book due to the rhyming aspects of it. I think since it is so similar to The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, is why I did not like it as much. I think its a weird spin off from it and it just didn't interest me. The words are repetitive, but I think that is the point but it is overall not very interesting. I think that if the words were more descriptive and not as short, it would be more interesting.