Snow Dog

by Malorie Blackman; Sami Sweeten

Book by Blackman, Malorie

64 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 2001

Reviews

[Colette V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Snow Dog, written by children's laureate Malorie Blackman and illustrated by Sami Sweeten, is a story about magic, the power of imagination and a little girl called Nicky who wants, 'more than anything else in the world', to have a dog. In this new edition, published as part of the Colour First Readers series in which some of Blackman's other title have also appeared ("The Monster Crisp-Guzzler", "Space Dog"), the emphasis is on children's enjoyment of reading itself. In this respect it is a great book for early readers, children between the ages of about five and seven years old, as they begin to make that crucial transition from decoding and recognising words on a page to making meaning and losing themselves in a story.

This book tells an endearing, warm-hearted tale that will appeal to children and adults alike. Nicky, who lives with her mum and dad in a beautiful house with a big, beautiful garden at the front and an even bigger one at the back, is miserable. And yet, it is not so much the fact of being an only child that makes her sad - the playmate she really hopes for is a dog. Against the hard reality of her parents' refusal - a dog would destroy the carpets, a dog would dig up the garden flowers - Nicky is inconsolable... until, that is, Grandad has an idea... Diving into his enormous bag and pulling out all kinds of gadgets and nick-nacks, Grandad soon finds just what the situation calls for: A snow dome kit of course, together with glitter and plastic to make the snow and extra-special clay with which to make a dog for Nicky! Does Grandad have magical powers? At first Nicky is sceptical - " A clay dog isn't the same as having a real dog", she sighed - but made from the magic clay that Grandad dug up at the end of the rainbow, Nicky soon finds out that wishes can indeed come true.

In terms of language I think that this is an excellent book for developing readers, as the publishers of this series intend it to be. While the story and language remain accessible to young children, allowing them to practice and gain confidence in their word-recognition skills, the book nevertheless provides a setting where they can come across a number of literary techniques such as the use of humour, dialogue, play-with-words, plot-twists and so on. Made up of four short chapters each one ending on a note of suspense and with colourful illustrations that really bring the characters and their surroundings to life, "Snow Dog" will keep children turning the pages, as they build up stamina in their progression towards longer books.

Finally this edition includes, for adults, a useful set of reading notes at the end on how to help children enjoy "Snow Dog". Among the suggested ways of encouraging children to respond to the book are number of creative activities, such as making your own clay dog, designing a short comic strip about the fun Nicky had with her imaginary dog Harry or developing the story of Nicky and Harry by writing your own new adventure for them.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet little story. Definitely one that kids would adore