"One little snowflake falls on my nose. It makes me shiver from my head to my toes." A little girl plays outside on a cold winter day, counting each snowflake as it falls softly to the ground. Bundled in her warmest snowsuit, she savors the snow, tasting each flake as it falls on her tongue, and makes snow angels. Simple rhyming text captures the joy of a winter afternoon while teaching basic counting skills. Exuberant pastel illustrations invite young readers to join the fun.
Ages 2-3. As in Tell Me a Season (1997), Siddals has written a book for preschoolers with minimal, but descriptive text--a kind of playful poem about the natural world. This one, which rhymes, is about anticipating a snowfall, and all the great things a child can do in the snow, such as catching snowflakes and making snow angels. Sayles uses a cool palette of pinks, blues, and lavenders. Her pastel paintings begin small, floating in white space ("one little snowflake falls on my nose"), but the pictures grow with each spread as the snow fall becomes heavier--" millions of snowflakes in my hair" --until they finally fill the page. It's as if she zoomed in on one snowflake and then pulled back, expanding the field of view to reveal the complete scene of a little girl frolicking with her dog. This is a book, like Uri Shulevitz's, Snow (1998) or Ulli Steltzer's black-and-white photo essay Building an Igloo (1995), that will get an enthusiastic reaction from active young children.
Horn Book (Spring 1999)
In this small-format counting book, a girl counts falling snowflakes from one to five. The brief rhyming text captures the simple pleasure of cavorting in newly fallen snow, as do the lavender and blue pastel illustrations, which start off as small squares surrounded by white and grow in size as the numbers increase.
Kirkus Reviews (1998)
Siddals (Tell Me a Season, 1997) again looks to nature for inspiration in her tale of seasonal delight. This simple counting story celebrates a child's wonderment at the marvel of a snowfall. "Two little snowflakes get in my eyes./Blink! Blink! What a surprise!" Beginning with one lone flake falling on a child's nose, the gentle verse explores the various destinations of one, two, and more snowflakes, from nose to tongue, chin, and hand. "Millions of snowflakes in my hair./Snowflakes falling everywhere!" Moving from the first depiction of a solitary snowflake and gradually enlarging the focus to encompass the final full-page blizzard, Sayles's pastel illustrations deftly capture the essence of a child's pleasure in snow. Using delicate hues and softly drawn images, she recreates the quietude of a world blanketed in white. A sparkling salute to the frosty season.
School Library Journal (September 1998)
PreS-A short rhyming text captures a little girl's delight as she romps with her dog in a wintry landscape. The heavily bundled youngster counts, touches, and tastes the snowflakes as they fall around her. Linda Brennan's Flannel Kisses and Lezlie Evans's Snow Dance (1997, both Houghton) both welcome winter in rhyme; their longer texts and larger formats lend themselves better to group sharing than Millions of Snowflakes. However, Siddals's book is perfect for small hands, and Sayles's evocative illustrations in pastels create winter surroundings made for playful exploration.-Kathy Piehl, Mankato State University, MN
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is a great book to read aloud to younger children (babies and toddlers) because there are not many words on each page. It covers the concept of counting and exposes children to the early literacy skill of phonological awareness through rhyming. This short book effectively expresses the experience of the joy children find in the simplest things, such as snow falling in wintertime. It has wonderful illustrations and a nice flow with the numbers and rhyming. This is a delight to read as the seasons change. It is a very sweet book - beautiful in its simplicity.
This sweet, winter counting book is a perfect companion to a snowy day. With gentle illustrations and simple words, this is a great book to share with an child or early reader. The muted colors and short prose all echo the quiet scene that the book lays out. It is a simple, sweet story-perfect for a snowy day.
I would wish that Meimei, and all the little girls and boy who live here in Vegas, could experience the pure joy and wonder of a snowfall the way this little girl and her faithful dog do!
This book about snowflakes has wonderful; illustrations and captures the true feeling of being in a gentle snow. The pictures make it easy to decipher the text. This book also demonstrates counting to five.
The shortest bedtime story I've ever read. My daughters and I just looked at each other when it ended. "Read it again." she said. It was two minutes well spent overall I'd say.
This is a good book for younger grades. It helps with counting and seasons. Inferencing can be taught as well, which I saw in my kindergarten classroom today.
Read the ebook version in my browser and was truly disappointed. Illustrations and text were duplicated and jumbled, making for a poor reading experience.
This is a cute counting book of snowflakes falling one by one until there is five. I love that there is an action after each one. The book is quite small, but I hope to use it for a smaller group during a storytime on snow. I like the fact that I can get the audience to join in on the actions along with the story. It can be very interactive.
This almost wordless counting book is perfect for the youngest child and celebrates the delight children feel when playing in the snow. Enjoy before you revel in your own snowy play with your child!