Wednesday, May 2, 2007

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

This Caldecott winning picturebook, The Snowy Day, chronicles the adventures of a young boy as he explores on a snowy day. I thought that the book really captured the curiousity and wonderment of a young child. How often I forget to look around and enjoy the things I see! Peter explores his footprints, discovers another track in the snow, notices how the snow is piled up by the buildings, and saves a snowball in his pocket-- for tomorrow.

The illustrations are simple but capture the "essence"of each object. Buildings are rectangular but lack detail, Peter's snow suit is simply red, the snowman is a lump of snow with a face on top. Peter's snowsuit is perfect for illustrating how young Peter really is. It has a pointy top and makes him look very round. He looks like the bundled up kid who can barely move for all the layers he has on.

I know there are other stories about Peter by Ezra Jack Keats. I'm curious to see if the illustrations are similar to The Snowy Day.

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