"Deep beneath the cover of another perfect wonder
Where it's so white as snow"
-- Red Hot Chili Peppers
"'Mom,' said David, 'do you think it will snow taller than the grass?'
"'I think so,' said Mom. 'Why don't you help clean the bathrooms while
you wait to find out.'
"So David helped Mom clean. He put on the big yellow gloves. He sprayed
the cleaner. He scrubbed with the heavy brush.
"But then the suds, white and fluffy, made him think of snow.
"So David decided to check the weather.
"The flakes were lying, white and fluffy."
I just love the comfort, the gentle mischievousness, and the wonder that
permeates BIG SNOW. On the title page, David is standing in his backyard,
hand grasping the string of his red sled, not a flake of snow yet in sight.
So he retreats to the house where his mother provides a practical
activity (first, baking cookies; next, scrubbing the bathroom; then, changing the
sheets) that helps him pass the time until he remembers the arriving snow
storm, abandons the activity, and races outside, yet again, to take measure
of the snow as it steadily covers his world.
What is really funny here in the storytelling is that the text plays it
straight, giving us the impression that David is systematically and
efficiently holding up his end of completing the household chores. Meanwhile, the
illustrations show us the real story -- that of David making one mess after
another which it is to Mom to clean up when David heads outside for the
latest update on the accumulating snow. The story concludes happily when, at
dusk, Dad returns home from work and he and Mom take David out into the
now-knee-deep blanket of snow.
Or, actually, the story ends on the copyright page, at the end of the
book, when the trio is sitting around the table with hot beverages and
cookies.
32 pages 978-0-374-30696-0 Ages 4-8
Recommended by: Richie Partington, MLIS, Librarian, California USA
Richie's Picks _https://richiespicks.com_ (https://richiespicks.com/)
