Snow Beast Comes to Play

by Phil Gosier

Have you ever met a snow beast?
You would know if you had. They are nothing like us.
Snow beasts are LOUD.
Snow beasts are LARGE.
And snow beasts are more than a little clumsy.
But there is one thing you might have in common with a snow sometimes they just want to make a friend.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Friendship, Fantasy

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2017

Reviews

[Baby Bookworm]

This review was originally written for The Baby Bookworm. Visit us for new picture books reviews daily!

Hello, friends! Our book today is Snow Beast Comes To Play by Phil Gosier, a fun story about not judging by appearances.

Little girl Penny absolutely loves the snow, and looks forward to it every year. There’s another type of creature that does as well: the snow beasts, who only wake up during the snowy months each year. But while most of the snow beasts are content to simply nap or compare foot size, one lonely snow beast is hoping for something different this year – he wants to make a friend. Sliding down the mountain to the land of humans, he does his best to politely make friends with the people he finds… only to have them run screaming from his giant stature and booming voice. Penny is initially scared as well, but seeing the dejected Snow Beast, all his overtures of friendship failed, she decides to give the monster a chance. And sure enough, she may have finally found someone who loves the snow just as much as her.

Cheerful and cute. The plot is a tad formulaic, and the ending surprisingly quick – I was expecting a bigger ending, especially with the way the townspeople were whispering about the Beast after their encounters – but the overall charm of the story and illustrations make this easy to overlook. The Snow Beast himself is especially cute, with his wide, friendly grin and expressive gestures. The length is good, and JJ enjoyed it. A short, simple, winter-themed lesson in making friends, and we enjoyed it. Baby Bookworm approved.

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

Be sure to check out The Baby Bookworm for more reviews!

[Lynn]

A huge but not scary beast can help identify ways to make friends.
Fun illustrations seem to be computer-generated.
I wonder:
If Beast has not had friends before, how does he know to help and say "Hello"?
What happened that he decided to try to make friends all of a sudden?

[Barbara]

Computer-generated illustrations accompany a story about a snowy creature that just wants to have a friend or two and have fun. Honestly, as I read this one, I thought of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, a Calecott winner from a couple of years ago. A young snow beast ventures out into the city to find a friend, something other snow beasts have never done before. But his efforts are unsuccessful since he is loud, large, and clumsy, and even when he has the best of intentions, things go awry. When Penny, a young girl, sees how sad the snow beast is, she takes pity on him and extends the hand of friendship. Finally, through an act of compassion, the snow beast has just what he has longing for--a new friend--and they frolic in the snow. Young readers may be reminded through this book to be kind to others, even when they seem different from what they are used to but especially when they are alone. I lowered my review score because I didn't like the utterances of the snow beast and I was curious about how he knew that saying "Hello!" would be the start to making a new friend. I was also curious as to why he even needed a friend among the humans. Didn't he have snow beast buddies?

[Dierdre]

First, we meet Penny, who loves snow, but knows to watch out for snow beasts. Then, we are introduced to snow beasts in general, then one particular snow beast who wants to play and make friends. He goes down to the town and tries to make friends, but due to his size, clumsiness, and the fear factor, he has some difficulty. Of course, Penny sees him for what he is and befriends him. It was a cute book. I liked the illustrations, though they were like a television show.

[Emily Snow]

My favorite part of this book was the illustrations because they are very cute and cartoon-like especially the snow beast. I thought that the storyline is adorable where the snow beast wants to be able to make friends due to the fact that he feels lonesome playing in the snow by himself. I think this would be a good read aloud for community building and during the winter time for younger elementary grades.

[Relyn]

This book, like 24 others, is a potential Show Me Nominee for the 2018-19 school year. What fun it has been to read all 25 books and help choose the ten nominees that most Missouri school children will read with their librarian next year.

This snow beast might be a little bit loud and a little bit scary, but all he really needs is a friend.

[Wanda]

A video of a story-time book read by librarians.
This story is about a snow beast, otherwise called Yeti, that wanted to go find a friend. So he went into town only to find his loudness, largeness, and clumsiness got in the way. Find out what happens when he finds a little girl and her dog.

[Edward Sullivan]

An affable beasty.

[Ann]

2019-2020 Show Me Preliminary Nominee

[The Book Box]

We got this book from the library when we thought it was going to snow! It hasn't snowed (yet), but it's a fun book to read!