Oh!: Great for Holiday and Christmas Reading or Gifting

by Kevin Henkes, Laura Dronzek (Illustrator)

This joyful board book edition of Oh! by the award-winning team of Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek celebrates the fun of playing in the snow. For readers who love The Snowy Day.

“‘Oh!’ becomes a universal expression of friskiness elicited by the first blanket of snow.” –Publishers Weekly

What could be better than waking up to discover that it has snowed all night? Going outside to play in it, of course! Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek’s very first collaboration is a dazzling one. This cozy, sparkling book is just right for the very young, who will see themselves in the two energetic toddlers who are bundled up against the cold and happy to jump and roll and crunch and hop alongside their backyard friends—a squirrel, a rabbit, cat, dog, and flock of cheerful birds. Let it snow and snow and snow! Oh! 

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Storytime, Childrens, Fiction, Juvenile, Nature

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Kevin Henkes is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. As an illustrator he won the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon (2004). Two of his books were Newbery Medal Honor Books, Olive's Ocean in 2004 and The Year of Billy Miller in 2014. His picture book Waiting was named both a 2016 Caldecott Honor Book and a Geisel Honor Book. It was only the second time any author has won that combination of awards.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beauty in pictures and words

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on my enjoyment as an adult who loves picture books, and Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek, I feel like this is a 3* book, but if I were to rate this in terms of being a book for new readers, I would give it 5*. I think if those young readers liked this, they would enjoy Sun Flower Lion, and vise versa.

[Adrianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Oh!" by Kevin Henkes is a simple book about animals and children that want to play in the snow. Personally, I found this story to be dull. I would not recommend this picture book. Laura Dronzek did a fantastic job with the illustrations. I liked that a beautiful shade of blue was incorporated into the story.

[Kariana Reads Kids' Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

"fat bouncy children" lmao

Not into this one! The illustrations are beautiful, but the "oh" repetition is very lame and I don't find anything especially appealing or memorable about the writing. Kevin Henkes is really good at writing loveable characters and I think the lack of characterization for anyone in this book is what makes it so lackluster for me.

[Emily Carlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this story! So simple but so sweet and fun. I also love that for the illustrations, Henkes has included the animal from the previous page! You'll understand what I mean if you read the story. Does work well for story time - with a small group.

[Jeremy Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun and very simple little book. It shows animals and children having fun, playing in the snow, and then they have to return home as it turns dark outside. I enjoyed its simplicity.

Little kids would love this book. The words aren't challenging, and the story is light and fun.

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin Henkes is my favorite author and I’ve yet to read a book of his that I don’t love. This one is super simple and full of repetition yet still interesting. I wish I’d found this one when my kids were babies, I would’ve loved to read it with them then.

[Ellon · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was just kind of meh for me. Animals and kids playing in the snow. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The kids are described at fat, which I think is supposed to reference all the layers they have on but I didn’t really like Henkes choosing to describe them as fat.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

We love Kevin Henkes.

While this wasn't a read-many- times- over favorite of ours, it is a beautiful winter tale for snow play and the first children's book by the husband and wife duo of Henkes and Dronzek. Interesting to see, while unique and differing, their art styles are similar.

[AJ Easterday · Rating 2 out of 5]

This books uses the words "fat" and "bouncy" to describe children, which is definitely a choice. The writing in this books just sounds weird overall, especially when read aloud, which most pictures books are.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very simple; good for baby storytime. I wish the book was a bit larger to make it easier to share the illustrations with a group.

[MelMon Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute read for ages two to five.

[Casandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet little book about animals and children playing in the snow.

[Goshen PL Childrens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read at Storytime on January 9th.
Theme: Snow and Winter Stories

[snreadsagain]

Oh?? 🤣❄️🐰

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple toddler and up book about animals and kids enjoying a snowfall. Easy breezy text is easy to follow

[Audrey Widjaja · Rating 4 out of 5]

love the story and the illustrations. Good to read to your children at any time.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Colorado Buck · Rating 3 out of 5]

kevin henkes - it says OH - (IO) and it is about a bunny in the winter / spring.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork is better than the writing.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toddlers

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Animals and kids play in the snow. I didn't get the delight that I usually do from Henkes' books.

[James Zaksek · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy fun read for the kids about playing in the snow and how fun it can be. Not bad for.a short book.

[Alyssa Mandell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was cute until the fat bouncy children line. I am assuming the kids are fat due to their big snowsuits but not a fan of how that is worded.

[Kristin Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple text and lovely illustrations convey the excitement of that first winter snow. I will read this to my 3s and 4s!

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A snowfall during the night brings out many animals to play and enjoy the snow all day!

[Ava · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is visually stunning with the illustrations and was a very cute story for beginning readers.

[The Book Box]

Mama read this to me tonight in preparation for her storytime tomorrow.

[English 212 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not as impressed with this book. I loved the artwork in it, but as far as the story goes i did not feel like it really taught me anything or gave any kind of message. This book is appropriate for the age level with few words and beautiful illustrations, however i would not use it. I did not feel that this was the best quality of literature. I did not feel that that pictures told more of the story, it was exactly what was happening along with the words. This author is award winning, but i did not feel that this was his best work.I would probably not use this as a read aloud, maybe more of one on one reading with a child. This books teaches the reader a few names of animals and the color they are in this setting. This book is just talking about animals who want to come out and play in the snow, along with children, and at the end of the day they end up back at home. I was not impressed with the text of this book, but i did like the warmth of the pictures and how they were drawn more as shapes than extremely detailed animals. Overall this was not one of my favorite books to read and analyze.

[Asho · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for my son's age (22 months). He has just reached the stage where he can identify animals and likes making animal noises, so we don't really read this one "properly," we just look through the pictures and he tells me the names of the animals and we make noises for them. It's a simple but fun book for winter.

ETA January 2019: All three kids heard this at library story time. S is now big enough to announce to the room, "Oh, Kevin Henkes! I love that author!" (He's almost 7 and getting so big; it's bittersweet). L liked the animal pictures, especially the ones where a feature of a previous animal would trail over onto the next page. F just likes listening to stories, period.