BIBLIOGRAPHY
Keats, Ezra Jack. 1962. THE SNOWY DAY. New York, NY: Viking Penguin. ISBN 0670654000
PLOT SUMMARY
A young child named Peter awakens one winter morning to find that the city outside his bedroom window is covered in snow. Bundled in his red snowsuit, he hurries outside to explore and play in this exciting world of white. With imagination as his guide, Peter finds a new adventure at every turn. He leaves funny footprints in the snow, builds a happy snowman, and even pretends to be a mountain-climber. Finally, when he has had enough of the chilly weather, he places a snowball in his pocket as a souvenir and returns to the warmth of his home. It has been a very special day, one that he shares with his mother and ponders over again and again. Just before bed, he checks his pocket to look at his snowball, only it is gone. Feeling disappointed, Peter goes to sleep and dreams that the sun has melted all the snow. But when he arises the next morning, one glance out the window assures him that it was only a bad dream. The snow is still there and there's more on the way. This time he will share it with a friend.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In The Snowy Day, Keats skillfully combines text and illustration to convey the wide-eyed wonder of a young child and his eagerness to run out and play in the new-fallen snow. On the first page of the story, the reader sees Peter gazing out his bedroom window with his lips slightly parted as if to say, "WOW!" This makes the reader anxious to find out "What's outside that window?" The story moves forward effortlessly because Peter's curiosity has instantly become the reader's curiosity. Never wordy, Keats weaves the story with straightforward phrasing. He describes Peter's impatience to see, to hear, and to touch this new world: "After breakfast he put on his snowsuit and ran outside." This easy partnership of prose and pictures continues throughout the story and brings it full circle to Peter looking forward to another exciting day in the snow. Keats leaves Peter (and the reader) anticipating a new day full of adventures.
In Peter, Keats creates a youthful character to which readers can easily relate. Again, it is the merging of text and illustration that makes Peter so multidimensional and brings him to life. His curious nature is seen when he finds "a stick that was just right for smacking a snow-covered tree." But the surprise on his face as the snow falls down on him reveals Peter's childish nature. In that moment, it seems that he has just learned that perhaps one shouldn't smack at things that hang over one's head. Peter's unworldliness is also apparent when he puts a snowball "in his pocket for tomorrow." Although this character seems naive in most respects, Keats shows Peter's wisdom in not joining the big boys in a snowball fight because "he knew he wasn't old enough - not yet."
Keats' use of watercolors and collage transforms a typical snowy "white" setting into one that is rich and multihued. The watercolors are soft, almost pastel, on the snow and seem to change as morning fades into evening. Throughout the story, brightly-colored collages add dimension to each scene making them appear more realistic. The bold-red of Peter's snowsuit adds an extra spark of liveliness to this wintery tale and encourages the reader to flip the page to find the boy in red. By doing so, the reader is greeted with vibrant panoramic views that invite them into the story, to come along and discover new things with Peter.
This story will resonate with readers of any age who remember their own snowy day adventures and will make those who haven't yet experienced the thrill yearn for it.
In The Snowy Day, Keats skillfully combines text and illustration to convey the wide-eyed wonder of a young child and his eagerness to run out and play in the new-fallen snow. On the first page of the story, the reader sees Peter gazing out his bedroom window with his lips slightly parted as if to say, "WOW!" This makes the reader anxious to find out "What's outside that window?" The story moves forward effortlessly because Peter's curiosity has instantly become the reader's curiosity. Never wordy, Keats weaves the story with straightforward phrasing. He describes Peter's impatience to see, to hear, and to touch this new world: "After breakfast he put on his snowsuit and ran outside." This easy partnership of prose and pictures continues throughout the story and brings it full circle to Peter looking forward to another exciting day in the snow. Keats leaves Peter (and the reader) anticipating a new day full of adventures.
In Peter, Keats creates a youthful character to which readers can easily relate. Again, it is the merging of text and illustration that makes Peter so multidimensional and brings him to life. His curious nature is seen when he finds "a stick that was just right for smacking a snow-covered tree." But the surprise on his face as the snow falls down on him reveals Peter's childish nature. In that moment, it seems that he has just learned that perhaps one shouldn't smack at things that hang over one's head. Peter's unworldliness is also apparent when he puts a snowball "in his pocket for tomorrow." Although this character seems naive in most respects, Keats shows Peter's wisdom in not joining the big boys in a snowball fight because "he knew he wasn't old enough - not yet."
Keats' use of watercolors and collage transforms a typical snowy "white" setting into one that is rich and multihued. The watercolors are soft, almost pastel, on the snow and seem to change as morning fades into evening. Throughout the story, brightly-colored collages add dimension to each scene making them appear more realistic. The bold-red of Peter's snowsuit adds an extra spark of liveliness to this wintery tale and encourages the reader to flip the page to find the boy in red. By doing so, the reader is greeted with vibrant panoramic views that invite them into the story, to come along and discover new things with Peter.
This story will resonate with readers of any age who remember their own snowy day adventures and will make those who haven't yet experienced the thrill yearn for it.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
1963 Caldecott Winner
From Publishers Weekly:
"pays homage to the wonder and pure pleasure a child experiences when the world is blanketed in snow."
From School Library Journal:
"paved the way for multicultural representation in American Children's Literature."
CONNECTIONS
Ezra Jack Keats Website http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/
Learn more about this award-winning author (i.e. biography, other books, etc...).
A Snowy Day Action Story (PreS-K)
This activity is adapted from http://wannabwestern.hubpages.com/hub/Snowy_Day
Perfect for a very cold day, snow or no snow, this activity provides children with the opportunity to pretend they are Peter from The Snowy Day. Children will mimic the teacher's actions as she performs the following actions:
- It's time to wake up! (Yawn and stretch and rub your eyes)
- Ohhh, snow! (Raise your hands in the air in big surprise)
- Time to get my coat and hat. (Pretend to put on your coat, followed by your hat)
- Ooops! Can't forget my gloves! (Pretend to put on gloves)
- Wow! Look at my footprints! (Step, step, stop and look)
- There's a stick. (Pick it up)
- My stick makes a line in the snow (Drag your pretend stick on the ground)
- Time to make a snowball. (Pretend to scoop some snow from the ground and make the snowball in your hands.)
- Wow it tastes cold! (Stick out your tongue and taste your snowball.)
- I hear Mom calling! (Put your hand to your ear)
- Time to go inside and have some hot chocolate! (Pretend to go inside, sit down, and drink some delicious hot cocoa)
- That was delicious! Mmm good! (pat or rub your tummy and shake your head up and down).
Using a Language Experience Approach, encourage the students to help you create a story similar to The Snowy Day, but based more on their own local weather and experiences (e.g. The Sizzlin' Day to depict a hot summer day's activities at a South Texas beach). The teacher will write the story on lined chart paper. Children will make their own books by copying the class-created text and creating individual illustrations to show the kinds of activities they enjoy on this special day (i.e. building sandcastles, trying to ride boogie boards with the big kids, etc...).
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