The Snowy Day

Written and Illustrated by Ezra-Jack Keates

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/28/145052896/the-snowy-day-breaking-color-barriers-quietly

Keats, Ezra-Jack. 1962. The Snowy Day. Ill by Ezra-Jack Keats, New York: Viking Press. ISBN 9780670654000

Summary

Young Peter wakes up to a world blanketed in white – during the night it snowed! Peter dresses in his warm, distinctive red snowsuit and ventures into his urban neighborhood to explore the changes the snow has created. Peter makes tracks in the snow, discovers the sounds, learns his limits (he is not ready to play with the big boys) and uses his imagination. At the end of his snowy day Peter gathers up a round, packed, snowball and tucks it into his pocket, but after telling his mama about his day Peter discovers that he cannot hold onto his snowy day – Peter’s snowball has melted away. Saddened by his melted snowball, Peter goes to bed and dreams that the sun has melted all of the snow – but Peter awakens to another snowy day! Peter and his friend from across the hall venture out into their neighborhood to enjoy a new snowy day, together.

Critical Analysis

The Snowy Day is an exquisite picture book that captures the magic and adventure of a snowy day. Filled with texture, sounds and story, Keats shows his audience the enchantment experienced by children in something as simple as a snow. The adventure that our young protagonist Peter experiences while exploring his urban neighborhood is completely unique – as the familiar landscape is transformed by the blanket of snow that disguises and alters Peter’s urban neighborhood. Nothing in Peter’s street is the same, mountains have been made, snowball wars are waged, snowmen are sculpted and angels are created in the drifts. Everywhere Peter looks, there is opportunity created by the soft blanket of snow. Peter had such a wonderful time playing, he tries to hold onto a piece of this snowy day by saving a snowball – but our audience learns that you can not hold onto time and that all souvenirs taken melt in comparison to the reality of that time. Peter is saddened that he can not hold onto the fun he had that day – but to his pleasant surprise the following day proves to be just as snowy!

Keats distinctive, mixed media illustration is saturated in color and texture. Peter is a bright contrast, in his vivid red snow suite with pointy hood that stands out against the fluffy, wispy snow. Keats paintings and collages are deceptively simple, his text sparse – and yet there is nothing to distract the readers from the meaning that saturates the page. Comprised of an unusual number of double paged spreads, the reader is free to wander the streets with Peter as he explores the changes the snow has made. Paint, tissue paper and cotton all work together so the reader understands how precious it is to take each new day and to experience it to the fullest – because no matter how hard we try, we cannot hold onto our experiences.

Awards

The 1963 Caldecott Medal

Reviews

National Public Radio Books

It was no longer necessary that the book say, 'I am an African-American child going out into the snow today,' " Pope says. "They realized that you don't put a color on a child's experience of the snow."

Keats received thousands of fan letters from children, featuring their own versions of his deceptively simple collage illustrations. Even children in places like decidedly un-snowy Florida could relate to Peter's adventures. But one of the most touching reports came from a teacher whose students had read The Snowy Day.

"There was a teacher [who] wrote in to Ezra, saying, 'The kids in my class, for the first time, are using brown crayons to draw themselves.' " Pope says. "These are African-American children. Before this, they drew themselves with pink crayons. But now, they can see themselves."

The New York Times

“The Snowy Day” is also, quite simply, a lovely book. “A gentle story that tells its action eloquently in few words and in the frosty blues and other beautifully combined colors of outstanding illustrations,” George A. Woods, the children’s book editor at The New York Times, noted in his review. In 1963, the same year that Madeleine L’Engle won the Newbery for “A Wrinkle in Time,” “The Snowy Day” won the Caldecott Award for the most distinguished picture book. The New York Public Library includes it on its list of the 100 Most Important Children’s Books of the 20th Century.

Connections

The Snowy Day is an ideal book that illustrates to readers the importance of experiencing and living our lives to the fullest. Pairing The Snowy Day with Robert Neubecker’s Wow! City! could help readers see the power observation and play. Wow City is the story of a young redheaded girl experiencing New York City for the first time. With so much to see, Wow! City! is crowded with illustration and light on text, but the bustling city is energizing and exciting to the book’s young protagonist. Together, The Snowy Day and Wow! City! epitomize the excitement and wonder children experience when encountering things for the first time.

References

Neubecker, Robert. 2004. Wow! City!. Ill by Robert Neubecker, New York: Disney-Hyperion. ISBN 0786809515

NPR Staff. “The Snowy Day: Breaking Color Barriers, Quietly.” National Public Radio Books. (2012) Accessed September 9^th, 2013, http://www.npr.org/2012/01/28/145052896/the-snowy-day-breaking-color-barriers-quietly

Paul, Pamela. “The Snowy Day Celebrates 50 Years.” New York Times. (2011) Accessed September 9^th, 2013, http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/the-snowy-day-celebrates-50-years/?_r=0