Snow Dance

by Lezlie Evans, Cynthia Jabar (Illustrator)

Bright, childlike watercolors capture the joy of the season's first snowfall, as two young children revel in the long-hoped-for, freshly fallen snow, until exhaustion sends them home to a cup of cocoa by the fire.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Family, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 1997

About the author

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Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really like this one. I didn't like the illustrations or the writing so when you don't like what you're looking at or the words you're reading, it's not a good read.

The illustration style looks like a drawing and colored with watercolors, and I don't like that. It looks like a kid's drawing, loose and not detailed. I didn't get any enjoyment from looking at them, except for a few times. One page showed the little girl with orange, curly hair jumping up in the air over her head, her body horizontal and her feet up. She looked cute there. And the next page she was wearing red long johns and smiling, her eyes closed, and below she had on a red cap, green overalls, and boots, her hair coming out of the back of the cap, and she looked cute. But that was it.

The rhymes were simple and childish, and sometimes just too out-there and not accurate. There were these deep, higher-thinking ideas that kids wouldn't have, only adults. So I think a lot of this would go over kids' understanding.

Some of the rhymes didn't hit the mark.
"..falls a single flake of snow. Snow grows thicker coming quicker now the flakes begin to flow." I've never thought of "flowing" snow before.

"spreading wonder everywhere."
I don't think kids think of snow as wonder, wonder being spread around.

"Smoke-breath blowing." People don't breathe smoke! What?

She wrote that snowflakes would keep dancing during the night, and I just don't think of snow dancing. And it doesn't necessarily snow all night.

She mentioned snow cakes baking and I have no idea what a snow cake is or how it would be baking. If it's cold enough to snow outside, it's not gonna be hot enough to bake anything...But baking had to rhyme with "angel making." It wasn't good rhyming.

There were no commas. Everything just ran together. No grammar, no flow.

I understood the concept of wishing for a snow day, but I've personally never did a "snow dance." The landscape looked more like the fall and not the winter. The grass was this brown color that didn't look like winter. The kids went outside and twirled all around, banging sticks together and I was like what are you doing? I can't believe someone would do this for snow!

The snowmen the kids made had sticks and branches stuck all over the top of their heads like hair sticking up. They had horizontally placed sticks as the mouths and sticks for the noses. They looked bizarre! Who makes a snowman like that?! Also, not to be nit-picky, but I couldn't help but notice it looked like they were using a pine or fir tree branches for the snowmen, and Idk how those kids managed to acquire them because evergreen trees don't break easily. They would be so hard to get off. You'd have to saw them.

The worst rhyme by far as "Rudolph noses ice cold toeses." NO. You do not make up words to rhyme. It would have been fine to rhyme noses with toes. It's okay if it's not perfect. I hate made-up words just for the sake of a rhyme.

The whole idea of being a part of a snow dance just missed it for me, because I don't dance for the snow, or consider snow to be this big dance. The rhyming, lack of grammar, run-on sentences, and childish artwork made this an okay read at best.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! Read this one at work today with my storytime kids.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun rhymes and colorful illustrations make this a delightful read for snowy weather (or if you just want to dream about it!)

[Dwyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Snow Dance will make all of us smile and burst with happiness. Snow Dance is a nice book. It's like a song. One reason to love this book is it an easy book foe kids or whoever reads it. According to the text,it is like a song or poem so it can be for 5 and oven. Another reason to love this book is it has nice and funny pictures in it. One example is, on the second page they had their boots on their hands. In my opinion Snow Dance is the best snow book and it a five star book. You will be so happy when you read Snow Dance.

[KC · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a cute rhyming book about the age old tradition of school children doing a snow dance and the fun and activities they partake in on their snow day. I was looking for a book to introduce a winter activities writing assignment to my 1st graders and this could work. Open to other suggestions......

[Cathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolute delight! Perhaps it's because I have such good memories of playing out in the snow when I was a kid. The rhymes are cute, but what makes the book so great is Cynthia Jabar's wonderful illustrations. They make me feel like a kid again.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Captures the childhood excitement of anticipating a major snowfall. The illustrations share the magic they feel as the children do their snow dance and then spend the day playing all sorts of games in the snow. The book ends with the fun of curling up to get warm and relax at the end of the day.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids have out grown this book but I was just thinking about the verses and illustrations wishing I could recite it. It’s that good as a children’s book. The anticipation of missing school for a snow day and all the outdoor play with illustrations is wonderful.

[Delaney June Dorko · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book definitely encapsulated the joys of a snow day. Would maybe read to the kids once a year for their first snow day. The rhyme pattern wasn’t bad for me, and I actually enjoyed the art style.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

-poetic read-aloud for kdg. and first grades
- lesson ideas- verbs (identify and perform)
-warm-up to spark discussion about snow activities and link to writing assignment

[Beverly Kennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun rhymes with lots of flowery vocabulary, even some made up words to fit the rhythm of the rhymes. I like the facial expressions on the children throughout the book.

[Manu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Little girl says she only likes it a little

[Sanbornton Central School · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this to first grade, then they completed a worksheet: write about your version of a snow dance and draw a picture of what the dance looks like. (Free from TPT)

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than I expected. It had all my little ones recounting our own adventures in the snow.

[Scott T.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool rhyming scheme.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My three year olds weren’t too impressed. It kind of went over their heads. Much better for older kids, like early elementary school.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book about snow play.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how this book covers so many of the things we love about winter.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children wanting snow did a dance as it began to fall. They got enough snow that school was cancelled the next day and the children could spend the day having fun doing all the things they loved to do in snow.

[Amber Lewis]

Snow Dance is a nice book to use with younger students maybe in 1st through 3rd grade. The book is about a group of school children who wish for a snow day so they can stay home and play outside. This book is a great tool for teachers to use when discussing various forms of writing. It is written in the form of an ongoing poem, and uses a large amount of rhyming words. This book is also great to introduce new vocabulary that may possibly be unfamiliar to students. The author used such words as prancing, forecast, whirling, sifting, clomping, and various other words while describing the events that take place in the story.

[Amy Holliday · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comments on the Story:
The writing in this story is incredibly impressive. There is so much rhyme and rhythm to each page yet none of the rhyme seems forced because the story flows so well. This book almost seems like it should be a song.

Recommended Uses for the Book:
I think that this is a good book for use at home for toddlers. It could also be a good book for a winter theme for a library story hour. Because the book is so well written with great use of rhyme, I think that this book can hold the attention of small children so would be a good choice for a storytime.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would probably have never picked up this book, but a patron said his daughter wrote it so I had to give it a try.

This is a great book! Very descriptive and makes me want to play in the snow. I love the illustrations and I am going to recommend this book more in the winter.. It is well written and I think kids will like it!

[Christine Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

First let me say that I like this book and it is a great choice for small storytimes or one on one sharing. That being said, I would have like for the book to be larger. The illustrations work, but would be difficult for children to see in a large storytime group.

Subjects


Winter -- Fiction.


Snow -- Fiction.


Rhyme -- Juvenile fiction


Stories in rhyme

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3 1/2 stars. Who doesn't do a snow dance to try to make a snow day happen? This is a cute book about dancing to make it snow, and then enjoying the snow once it comes. Need to add a little movement to your class, this book might help. It also go through all the clothes needed to go out in the snow, supporting a lesson on clothing for winter.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun rhyming story of kids wishing for snow to come and the fun they have when it comes. It has bright, fun illustrations to go along with the story. I would use this in class to open discussion about seasons, and the different activities in the seasons.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun story about wanting it to snow.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is one of my favorite winter books- a lovely little poem that flows along joyfully capturing our childlike wonder, awe and love of snow

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this aloud for storytime practice, good rhyme and nice bright pictures. Didn't use it though for fear of it being too long for a group. Maybe another time.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Another fun story about the magic of the first snow.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very pretty rhyme. Makes me sad I live in a no snow zone.