You Make Me Smile

October 1, 2013

PreS-K-A small child is watching and waiting for something. The second-person narrative tells the youngster that the day is special. Snow starts falling, and soon the child bundles up and goes outside. "You'll be cold, cold, cold, with a radish-red nose." Even at this point, readers don't know who is speaking. As the day progresses the child builds a snowman, and readers realize that the snowman has been narrating. When the youngster places a bent twig on his face, he says, "today is the special day...when you make me...smile." Smiling child and snowman pose for Dad's photo. After a two-page romp through the seasons, the story ends with the promise, "A year may pass, but if you wait...we can share a snowy smile again." The closing image is the one the child's father snapped with his camera. The illustrations look like pencil and gouache drawings. They're soft around the edges and just right for a snowy story. It's a simple story, just a child, Dad, and a snowman. The mood it creates is perfect for the season.-Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2014
A little girl hurries outside to build a snowman after a fresh snowfall and discovers why "today is a very special day." The text, narrated by the snowman, is spare and patiently paced; the illustrations' muted, cool colors perfectly capture the quiet of wintertime, while pops of red and yellow draw the reader's eye to the cozily bundled-up kid.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)