First Snow, Magic Snow

by CECH

A little girl made from the magical first snow lives with a lonely man and his wife through the winter, and when she disappears in the spring, the couple set out in search of her

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

Hardcover

First published September 1, 1992

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this at a local bookshop and thought it looked cute. I was saving it to read this winter. I forgot I had it when it snowed the first time this year, but thankfully we had a big snow again, so I was able to read this while being snowed in.

I saw where it said this is inspired from the traditional Russian tale "Snegoorochka," or The Snow Maiden. I was excited to read it because I didn't know this was Russian beforehand.

The woodsman was sad he didn't have children, even though they had a cat, dog, 14 geese, and 3 cows. An orchard and a Meadow. That sounded pretty good to me! As someone who doesn't want kids, and loves animals, that would be a dream to me.

This story took a completely different direction than I ever could have imagined.
They say "first snow, magic snow" so he makes a snow child out of the snow. Very impressive to make arms and legs, a hat and coat.
She grew quickly over the 7 days it snowed. And went sledding with the village children, who quickly forgot she was made of snow and magic. But how did they know she was made of snow in the first place?

Vanya goes through the ice& she goes to rescue him and also goes through. The dog saves them. And then the whole village reached the edge of the river. How would the villagers know what happened? It's not like they were screaming for help.
The dog pulls the sleigh to Snowflake's house. And all of a sudden the villagers watch as the children warm themselves and drank a special tea.

As winter ended snowflake stayed indoors, lost the color in her cheeks and brightness in her eyes.
To celebrate the end of winter the villagers emptied their mattresses and built a bonfire with the straw. The children jumped over the coals for good luck, while the adults played music and danced.
Vanya pulls her over the fire with him, and she turned to a cloud of steam.
The picture was funny with him over the fire, his hand only holding steam as a cloud hung in the air where she was, his mouth open in shock.

When they ask Anastasia Nikolaevna if she'd seen her she replies that it's spring now and she's returned to her home, with Grandfather Frost. She's the child of the first snow.
It was annoying how Snowflake's mom said she's our daughter too! I know she's been a parent to her, but she belongs to someone else.

When Anastasia says she came to them with the first snow and now she's gone back to her first home, they said they must find her. They have to travel over many hills, a long way, and that even if they find her, she'll always belong to Grandfather Frost. And her dad said that may be but we must try. Why would you travel all that way if she doesn't belong to you!!

'Snowflake's parents walked through brambles and rainstorms, over sunny days and hard stones, and into cold mornings that kept the moon in the sky.'
Brambles didn't go with rainstorms, neither did sunny days and hard stones. And cold mornings don't keep the moon in the sky.

They finally reached the forest of the Sammi, people who herd reindeer and live close to the snowy top of the world, where northern lights played across the sky. This was really interesting and cool. I've never heard of Sammi(I'm assuming they're real), who look after reindeer.

I'm surprised this turned into a riddle. 'You must reach a place that is open, yet closed; cold, yet warm; quiet, yet full of sounds.'
I didn't like that the book didn't cover their journey on the path to the far north, to the clearing. It showed the girl with grandfather frost.
The parents hear music. It said he stopped to listen to the singing of the child beside him. If she had been beside him why did he stop to listen. He could have heard her as he walked.
Her song became a bird that flew away.
It's weird her face was framed by a snowflake.

When asked if she could return he said she belonged there, and his words turned into icicles that hung in the air. He said he needed her laughter and songs.
The mom says she is our child and should be with us. She says they've been filled with joy ever since she came into our home.
He says they'll have their answer in the morning. He waves his staff in front of two tall firs, their branches shiver, and they drop their boughs and needles into warm drifts for the parents to sleep on.
They wake up at home, and hear their daughter singing.
She says 'spring, summer, fall have passed and now I can return at last.'
How did the seasons change? Did they pass without her, and now she's back for winter? Did it skip to winter?
Then she says 'till springtime sends me north again' which means she won't stay there.
I turned the page and couldn't believe that was the end.
The parents didn't get to see her, didn't get to talk of how the seasons changed. It wasn't clear enough that it was only temporary. Would they ever have a child of their own? Would she ever grow?

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork was strange and the people looked odd. I didn't expect this to be about a couple who wanted a child and that was disappointing. She grew from a baby to a kid in 7 days while the snow was falling. I know fairy tales have impossible things, but this was a little much.

I didn't find the story or the writing very good. It was a lot of writing on the pages, too much, and it needed to be edited down. Most of the sentences and details weren't important and I wondered why they were even written.

Then Snowflake-bad name-went sledding alone with Vanya and they ended up going through the ice. The entire village got to the river as his dog rescued them. I found it unbelievable that every person in the village knew what was going on and came to the river. It would have been better if only a few had, because that would have been realistic. It's little details like this that stand out in their ridiculousness.

It was sweet that Vanya wanted to jump over the coals with her. It's a good luck tradition they do at winter's end.

This isn't the story I expected. I want more snow and less magic snow child. She can only come home in the winter and has to go back in the spring with Father Snow or whatever his name is. The writing was uninteresting and needed to be edited down. The illustrations were weird and not appealing to the eye. They ruined the writing, so I guess they were as bad as each other.