Title: Dream Snow
Author: Eric Carle
Genre: Non-fiction Concept book
Theme(s): Christmas, winter, dreaming, counting, farms
Opening line/sentence: On a small farm there lived a farmer. He only had a few animals.
Brief Book Summary: There is a farmer that lives on a farm with his animals named One, Two, Three, Four and Five. He takes a nap and dreams of snow pilling up on him and his five animals. When he wakes up he sees snow everywhere and realizes that he is not dreaming! But he soon realizes that he forgot one thing. He puts on his red outfit and puts five gifts under the tree for all of the animals in honor of Christmas.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Kirkus Reviews
The venerable and prolific Carle (Hello, Red Fox, 1998, etc.) offers a quiet Christmas story with a little music at the end. A farmer lives alone on a small farm with so few animals that he calls them One, Two, Three, Four, and Five. Oh, he also has a tree named Tree. One night near Christmas he falls asleep in his favorite chair after his peppermint tea, and dreams that he is covered in a white blanket. On successive pages, One the horse, Two the Cow, Three the sheep, and so on are each covered in a snowflake blanket, accomplished by an acetate page of flakes and an amorphous shape that when turned reveals the animal. When the farmer awakes and finds it has snowed for real, he dresses himself warmly, decorates Tree, and strews gifts for all five animals under it. When he shouts "Merry Christmas to all!" he pushes a button that children can push, producing a lovely Yuletide tinkle. The pictures are in Carle's trademark richly colored and textured collages that capture the snowy magic of Christmas. Adults may be charmed to see that Carle dedicates the book to Barry Moser, who modeled for the farmer, although from the photo on the back cover Carle and Moser could pass for brothers with their shiny pates and neat white beards. Cotton candy. (Picture book. 4-7)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: "This is a simple, well-told story about a simple farmer. . . . Viewers. . . will want to get their hands on it." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both reviews seem to think very highly of this book. They seem to think it is visually appealing and has great Christmas spirit for children. The reviews seem to think children will enjoy this book greatly and find great pleasure while reading it. The story is creative and fun for kids while also helping kids with counting.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: There is a great conflict that occurs in this novel. When the farmer wakes up from his dream he realizes that it actually is snowing and he almost forgot to give his five animals presents for the holiday! The farmer does a great job at overcoming his conflict and getting dressed quickly while also giving the animals their presents. The conflict is resolved perfectly.
Consideration of Instructional Application: In my own classroom I could have students draw five different winter items. This could be snowflakes, Hanukkah candles, Christmas trees etc. Then after the children are done drawing five of their winter objects they must label them by numbers. This will help the students count what they are drawing while also getting into the winter spirit!