Ice Boy

by David Ezra Stein

An ice cube in search of adventure stars in a comical (and very cool) tale of transformation from Caldecott Honoree David Ezra Stein.

Ice Boy has a normal life. He likes goofing around with his siblings ("Don t lick your brother!"). He listens when his parents tell him that being chosen to cool someone s drink or be a cold compress is the best thing that can happen to an ice cube. But Ice Boy wants more. So even though his parents tell him never to go outside, and even though his doctor tells him never to go in the sun, Ice Boy decides to head for the beach, where he rolls right into the water ("Best day ever!"). But suddenly his edges begin to blur. . . . From the creator of the best-selling Interrupting Chicken comes an offbeat and funny story of daring to venture into the unknown, whatever form it may take."

Genres: Picture Books, Science, Childrens, Adventure, Humor, Family, Storytime

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 11, 2017

About the author

David Ezra Stein is an author-illustrator whose previous books include LEAVES, winner of an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award. He lives in Kew Gardens, New York.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Growing up in the freezer, Ice Boy is told by his parents that the highest purpose an ice cube can have is to be "chosen," perhaps for a drink, maybe even a cold compress. But he longs to explore the world instead, and sets out to the beach, where he slowly melts into the ocean. Soon he is experiencing all of the different states of water, from liquid to vapor, back to liquid and then into solid. Once again in ice form, he is reunited with his parents, and the three find themselves melting on the lawn. What will they do, his parents wonder? But for Ice Boy, it is all one big adventure...

I have enjoyed other David Ezra Stein titles - his Pouch! is a wonderful example of the reassurance tale - but somehow Ice Boy just didn't speak to me. I appreciated its message of self-worth, and learning to accept change in oneself, but the eponymous hero and his journey just didn't interest me that much. Maybe I have difficulty anthropomorphizing an ice cube? Whatever the case may be, there's nothing wrong here, and tastes vary, so others may still want to give this one a try, especially if they're Stein fans, but this one left me pretty indifferent.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a real Schoolhouse Rock feel to this cute and peppy story about an ice cube who craves adventure.

They told him not to leave the freezer. He left. They told him not to stand in the sun! He stood! And then he went to the beach, and melted, and soaked a towel, and evaporated, and hey wait a minute, I'm learning about the water cycle!!

Niiiiice!

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute! Don't realize you're also learning about the life cycle of water (ice to liquid to vapor to ice, etc.) until you're already engaged in the story. My fave was dodging the "tough cubes" that say "ya mama was a icicle." (Maybe should be "Yo mama was an icicle"?)

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ice Boy won't be satisfied to become what his parents suggested was an ice cube's highest calling, to be chosen, usually for a drink. Instead, Ice Boy sets off on a path to adventure, all the places his kind has always been told never to go. Outside. In the sun. At the beach. In the ocean. And slowly Ice Boy starts to melt....

The ice cycle in a picture book.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and fun explanation of the water cycle!

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best book about the water cycle EVER! "Your great aunt was a cold compress!"

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

The water cycle--like you've never seen it before. Hooray for Ice Boy!

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute story and a fun way to depict the water cycle. Very appealing mixed media illustrations.

[Sarah Swan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when you don’t want what others expect you to want? How far can you go toward your goals? Ice Boy loves his family, and loves to play with them, though he’s not fond of the tough ice cubes at the back of the freezer. But he doesn’t think his ultimate goal should be providing coolness to somebody’s drink. Nor does he want to be in a cold compress for some injury. Instead he wants to explore the world. He wants to stand in the sun, even though his doctor told not to. He goes to the beach and rolls into the ocean, where, slowly but surely, he becomes water boy. He is part of a wave and then another wave, until finally he washes up onto somebody’s beach towel. The sun slowly turns him into vapor boy and carries him up to the clouds. He goes so high, he becomes a drop of water, but then he is high enough to freeze into an ice cube. A storm drops him out of the sky and into someone’s drink at his very own house. His parents are in the drink with him, but when the person takes a sip, he tastes Ice Boy first and decides the cube doesn’t taste good. Out on to lawn, Ice Boy and his parents are launched. His parents worry what will become of them, but their son says, “Let’s find out.” This is a clever way to teach children about what can happen to water. The illustrations are playful and appealing.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stein, David Ezra Ice Boy, PICTURE BOOK. Candlewick, 2017. $16.

Ice boy is supposed to stay in the freezer with his ice cube family and friends. Though they risk being ‘chosen’ and taken from the freezer, nobody knows where to. But Ice Boy is adventurous and leaves the freezer for a life of adventure. He melts in the ocean, evaporates, and becomes rain and eventually hail. When he meets back up with his parents, he teaches them a valuable lesson.

The illustrations feature a dark blurry hue that would make this book a bit of a challenge to share with a group. However, younger grade teachers would love a picture story that represents the water cycle in a fun, interesting and memorable way. Students would check this out on their own as well, thinking it was just a fun story, and learn a thing or two.

EL(K-3) –ADVISABLE. Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017...

[Amy Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi, I love this book.  Not only does it teach about the water cycle in an indirect way, but it shows the importance of family, growing up, and being different.  Also, I really enjoy David Ezra Stein's illustrations.  

So, this little ice cube wants something more, right?  So he goes off to the beach, where he gets a little melty.  And after being evaporated, rained down, and re-frozen, Ice Boy finally returns home, where his parents, being poured into a drink, are overjoyed that he's returned.  He looks a little different, yes, but he's returned.  And he's better for having left, and he's different, but he's returned.  

I just.  It's such a sweet book, and it's educational, and it's sentimental.  Leaving home can change you, but it's all worth it in the end, especially if you have a family that will love you no matter what.  

Review cross-listed here!

[Casidy Strother]

Summary- This book is about an ice cube named Ice Boy. He was told to never leave the freezer and not to go outside. He didn't want to be chosen, even though that is the best thing that can happen to an ice cube. Ice Boy went outside and in the sun. He went to the beach and he soon turned into Water Boy. Then, he soaked into someone's towel and became Vapor Boy. He danced on top of a thunderstorm and froze into Ice Boy again. He fell from the sky and landed in a drink. Luckily, his mom and dad were in the drink so they were reunited.

Review- This book was very interesting to me. I love how the main character's perspective was one of an ice cube. I love how the author turned Ice Boy into various different characters throughout the book.

Connection to Profession- I would use this book in the classroom to help teach precipitation. The book shows how the ice cube goes from water, to vapor, and then back to ice.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book illustrates the process of ice to water to vapor to ice in a really creative way. I enjoyed watching Ice Boy's journey, especially since I didn't know going into it that the book is essentially a discussion of the water cycle. It's not necessarily the most compelling tale, but it's a unique way to show the water cycle and would be helpful in a Tinkerlab or STEAM program. Excellent for science fans.

For: science fans; readers looking for a more fictionalized depiction of the water cycle.

Possible red flags: some readers may not find the story to be exciting enough; some readers may feel that it promotes going against one's parent's wishes.

[Hannah Kay]

Ice Boy is about a family of cubes who live in the freezer. They consider it a huge honor when ice cubes are chosen to be used in drinks! Ice Boy wants something more though! He escapes from the freezer and goes on this excited journey! He goes to the beach and melts into the ocean, turns into steam, and then becomes hail! In the end, he ends up back with his family!
This story is so sweet!! Ice Boy is so loveable and his adventure is so entertaining and interesting. I also thought the illustrations were so fun to look at.
This book would be great to use in a science class. It covers the cycle of water and how it goes through many different forms when it’s warmed up or cooled down!

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ice Boy didn't want to be in a cold compress. He wanted more." So, even though his parents told him not to, he left the freezer. And even though the doctor told him to stay out of the sun, he went to the beach. An quickly became Water Boy. And he has the time of his life. And then, while basking on a beach towel, he becomes Vapor Boy. And his journey continues until he returns once again as an ice pellet in a storm and finds his parents.

What a fun way to learn about the water cycle.

[Alexandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are very cute and the narration is done through the thoughts and experience of Ice Boy, a boy made of, well, ice. He leaves his life in the freezer to explore sunlight, rain, and experience the entire water cycle for himself.

It can get a little disturbing if you think too deeply about the implications of "Being Chosen" for a person's drink (something they touch on in the movie) and the fates of the ice cubes, but if you keep your view at a surface-level it is a very cute book about the water cycle, adventure, and learning from experience.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ice Boy doesn't want to fulfill his destiny of ending up as a cold compress or the ice in someone's drink so her runs away and experiences a ton of adventures all the while exploring the water cycle.

This story is so clever and complex. There's solidly entertaining information about the water cycle wrapped up in a coming of age story about a child who is aware of his destiny and dares to dream a little bigger.

Mixed media illustrations, PreK-2.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Ezra Stein delivers again. This funny story of an ice-cube family that lives the freezer. He becomes water, then steam (water vapor), then back into a water droplet that becomes part of a storm. There he freezes again and becomes ice in the form of hail. The hail falls from the sky and he is reunited with his family in a beverage. This would be a wonderful book to read in conjunction with a unit on the water cycle.

[Stefanie Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly story about a boy who is made of ice, "Ice Boy." His parents warn him against going outside (they live in the freezer), but his curiosity persists and he leaves the confines of the ice box. On his adventures he goes through all the stages of the water cycle and becomes Water Boy, Vapor Boy, and back to Ice Boy. Entertaining way to begin a unit for elementary students on the water cycle, or even the properties of matter. Definitely earned a few giggles from me!

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sneaky way to teach the water cycle to children as they read this story about an ice cube who doesn't wait around to be chosen to chill someone's drink but gets out of the refrigerator and goes on an adventure. And the circular story brings him right back to his parents in the glass of water they are chilling for someone. I love when an inanimate object is the m.c. and has an adventure and we learn something along the way about science and water.

[Donna Charlevoix · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, clever story of the life of an ice cube that sneaks in the process of the water cycle. Science in a fun and engaging way. Great illustrations and factually correct.

The book doesn't try to put too much science in it and the entire story is about the little boy ice cube. A great fit for young readers (2nd-4th grade / 7-9 years) - they will enjoy the story and have a way to keep the water cycle and phase change in context in their head well after reading it.

[Lo]

If you urgently need to find a children's book about the water cycle, but via a story format rather than non-fiction, this is it. I dunno, maybe you're doing an unusual scavenger hunt, or trying to appease a particularly odd cranky toddler.

If not in that specific circumstance, you'd probably be better off reading a different book, since there are some really great ones these days! This was just trying way too hard.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ice Boy has a life with in family in the freezer & everyone knows the best thing to happen to any ice cube is to be chosen. But Ice Boy doesn't want to be chosen, he dreams of adventure. So one day he escapes the freezer & during the course of his adventure he transforms from solid, to liquid, to vapor... the water cycle.

Teaching points: the water cycle, onomatopoeia

Location: LES library

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this, and it was also very educational. This is about a piece of ice who ventures out of the freezer to see what is out in the world. Children get to find out what happens to ice when it changes into its different forms. The pictures were adorable and the story was fun enough for a story time.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me smile! It is not only a book about the water cycle, it is done in a fun way so isn't all facts and figure. (bo---ring) I had a fun time with this one! Though I don't like ice in my drink, I think I am saving objects like Ice Boy.... my little contribution to the life of ICE! YOU'RE WELCOME!!

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not ranking very high with me in terms of story value, this book would be great for a science lesson about the water cycle. Younger students could engage with the tale and have a great visual of what happens from ice to water to vapor. The illustrations are fun, and a good read-aloud could liven up the text.

[Marcie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly fun, but would have been fun to read to the 3rd or 5th graders yesterday as they were finishing their diagrams of the water cycle on the computer. I can see reading it and talking about evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and accumulation.

Chicago Public Library Best Picture Books 2017.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The speech bubbles in this book make it a little tough to use as a read-aloud book, but I was impressed at how well it still held the attention of the kids (ages 6-11) in my library STEAM program. It's always nice when I can read a book with a fiction-y story to help introduce a science concept (in this case, the water cycle).

[Heydi Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes you through the water cycle in a brief and entertaining way. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I’m sure your kids will. A sure winner for a water or adventure Storytime.

My only conundrum with this book is the last picture. I think the water is being sprayed out of a sprinkler but I’m not sure.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many good ideas for this book. You can use it to teach personification. It has the water cycle in it. It can be used for predictions. On top of that, it’s a plain out fun story. The only negative is that the boy runs away from his family and goes against his doctor’s wishes. But, without choices, not many stories would happen, would they?