The Snowy Day, a 1963 Caldecott Medal winner, is the simple tale of a boy waking up to discover that snow has fallen during the night. Keats's illustrations, using cut-outs, watercolors, and collage, are strikingly beautiful in their understated color and composition. The tranquil story mirrors the calm presence of the paintings, and both exude the silence of a freshly snow-covered landscape. The little boy celebrates the snow-draped city with a day of humble adventures--experimenting with footprints, knocking snow from a tree, creating snow angels, and trying to save a snowball for the next day. Awakening to a winter wonderland is an ageless, ever-magical experience, and one made nearly visceral by Keats's gentle tribute. The book is notable not only for its lovely artwork and tone, but also for its importance as a trailblazer. According to Horn Book magazine, The Snowy Day was "the very first full-color picture book to feature a small black hero"--yet another reason to add this classic to your shelves. It's as unique and special as a snowflake.

From Publishers Weekly
Now in a sturdy board-book format just right for youngest readers, Ezra Jack Keats's classic The Snowy Day, winner of the 1963 Caldecott Medal, pays homage to the wonder and pure pleasure a child experiences when the world is blanketed in snow. (Viking, $6.99 15p 6 mos.up ISBN 0-670-86733-0 Jan.)Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Peter wakes up to find the world covered in snow-crisp, clean, and white. Excitedly, Peter ventures out to play. His feet make a variety of tracks, and when he hits a snow-laden tree with a stick, the snow falls off-plop! onto his head. Keats's sparse collage illustrations capture the wonder and beauty a snowy day can bring to a small child.

ANNOTATION

The adventures of a little boy in the city on a very snowy day.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

No book has captured the magic and sense of possibility of the first snowfall better than The Snowy Day. Universal in its appeal, the story has become a favorite of millions, as it reveals a child's wonder at a new world, and the hope of capturing and keeping that wonder forever.

About the Author: Ezra Jack Keats, 1916-1983, grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he discovered art at an early age. The Snowy Day was the first book he both wrote and illustrated, a story which was inspired by the photograph of a small boy in Life magazine which Mr. Keats hung on his studio wall, "Just to get the feeling of this wonderful little boy. I wanted to convey the joy of being a little boy alive on a certain kind of day-of being for that moment," he wrote. "The air is cold, you touch the snow, aware of the things to which all children are so open."

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly