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WHEN
It
Starts
to
SNOW
illustrated
by Martin Matje
Holt,
1998
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*CCBC Choice, 1999
*Braille edition
*French edition,
translated by Elisabeth Guinsbourg
*Japanese edition,
translated by Masayo Koike
*Working Mother, Best of
'98
*Starred review,
Publishers Weekly
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| From
the
book jacket: |
What if if starts to snow?
What do you do?
Where do you go?
So begins this charming question-and-answer
story as each animal--from the mouse to the bear--tells us what it will
do and where it will go when the snow starts to fall from the sky.
Phillis Gershator’s lyrical text and Martin
Matje’s imaginative pictures make this an ideal picture book for
sharing in a cozy classroom circle, or reading under the covers when
the weather gets nippy.
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| A little
about the book: |
When I saw Holly Meade’s final, sun-filled
illustrations for Rata-pata-scata-fata,
I fell in love with her work. I asked her what she wanted to work on
next and she said, “Snow.” So I tried to write a book about snow. My
first version wasn’t successful, and Holly went on to create other
books (some featuring LOVELY scenes of snow!). But I kept doing
revisions on the snow theme, and thus began my connection with a
wonderful editor, Christy Ottaviano. She selected Martin Matje to
illustrate our snow book, the artist’s first children’s book in the
United States. I had hoped to do another picture book with Martin, and
one was planned, but he died at a tragically young age. His legacy
includes so many terrific books filled with artwork uniquely
imaginative,
inventive, and witty. I feel lucky to have been associated with
him.
A special song for When It Starts to Snow
is included in the CD for kids titled "This Is the
Day! Storysongs & Singalongs."
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| From the reviews: |
“In this engaging picture book about the chain of events set in motion
by a snowfall, a cluster of animals respond in rhyme to a boy’s
question.... Gershator writes with a simple, lilting
eloquence....French artist Matje inventively renders the winter sky in
the color of hot chocolate tinted with whipped cream, a perfect
evocation of both the coziness and chill of a snowy day. This striking
visual element provides the backdrop for his boldly graphic
characterizations...everyone, even the hulking bear, has tiny bright
eyes that peer out at the audience in comic wonder. With words that
roll off the tongue, pictures of charming woodland inhabitants and a
dash of science, this one will have readers raring to go on a snow
quest of their own.” Publishers
Weekly, starred review.
“Matje’s illustrations lead the eye from one scene to the next in a
kind of flow, out the door, over the ice, to the pond, into the forest,
and back to the house....The text has a rhyming, rhythmical pattern
with enough repetition to be read easily by beginners. this is a
chaarming book to read aloud with the younger set, in anticipation of
the change from fall to winter. The rhyming, repetitive text gives a
rolling rhythm while reinforcing concepts of seasonal change and animal
behavior--such as migration, coloration, and hibernation.” Five Owls, selected title
“In simple rhymes and soothingly rhythmic language, common animals
describe, in succession, their responses to falling snow.... Matje, a
French illustrator, makes his American debut with uncluttered gouache
scenes of simply drawn creatres, seen throughg a mild, fluffy snowfall.
Although the text is longer here, the mood and simplicity of expression
recall Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day
(1962) and Ruth Krauss’ The Happy
Day (1949).” Booklist
“The bright white snowflakes are satisfyingly fat and ever-present, and
the child’s glee in the ‘brand-new snow/coming down/coming down’ is
contagious....a cozily satisfying lapsit for the toddler fascinated by
both snowflakes and animal noises.” Bulletin
of the Center for Children’s Books
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