Snow, by Uri Shevulitz

TITLE: Snow
AUTHOR + ILLUSTRATOR: Uri Schulevitz
PUBLISHED BY: Live Oak
ISBN: 978-1591125594

Have you heard? There is going to be another monster storm in DC this weekend. I may not even make it in to work tomorrow. We'll see... Anyway: with this in mind, I am declaring a second snow day on LLB and sharing with you my other favorite snow-themed book, the aptly titled Snow by Uri Schulevitz.

In my First Things piece I mentioned that I first fell in love with Uri Schulevitz after seeing his 2008 Caldecott Honor Book How I learned Geography. That was not strictly speaking true--as I realized last December--because the first book of his that I fell in love with was Snow.

Also published in 1999 (it got the "Honor" as Snowflake Bentley got the medal), Snow shows the progress of a really excellent snow storm on a tiny eastern European village. A little boy says to his grandfather "It's snowing." and the grandfather objects, "It's only a snowflake." But soon that one snowflake turns into many, and before long the entire town is covered in a deep, thick, lovely snow.

I love this book because it captures exactly what I feel about snow: joy, anticipation and child-like wonder. I think I have those feelings because, being a California girl, I did not grow up with snow--so it never ceases to amaze and inspire me. This little boy has so much faith in the snow storm--he sees it not as an inconvenience but as a treasure, an adventure, and a thing of beauty.

This book has very few words but the pictures have so much detail. And, of course, they are filled with Schulevitz' characteristic wit and charm. This is the perfect book for the snowbound--and for those who wish to be.

PS. Are you snow-bound? Do this fun snow-themed activity inspired by the book.

Snowflakes kept coming and coming and coming.