Customer Reviews

Millions of Snowflakes

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mary McKenna Siddals has captured the beauty and joy of a young child's playful interaction with snowflakes. This is a book to read aloud with a baby or toddler on your lap. These evocative rhymes perfectly compliment Elizabeth Sayles lovely pastel illustrations of the uninhibited joy of a child in the snow. Millions of Snowflakes is a book that begs to be read again and again. It's a counting book that teaches the numbers 1-5. This however is just an additional bonus to it's value as a great read-aloud book for very young children.

I sought out this book to buy after getting it from our local library for my 19-month-old daughter. At first, it seemed like a snoozer as I paged through it at the library, but I added it to our pile anyway. It seemed timely, if nothing else since it was winter here. My daughter surprised me later when we opened it at home. Before I began reading, she pointed furiously at the pictures. "Boots!" She said as she identified the little girl's snow gear. Same with her scarf and snowsuit. She then proceeded to imitate the pictures pretending to catch snowflakes on her eyes, her hand and her tongue, saying "yum, yum" along as I read. She even learned how to make a snow angel from the illustration. When we were done, I often got her little "again" to go back to the beginning. So, I was wrong. It was a hit. A very soft-spoken, gentle rhyme and picture book that captures the magic of falling snow for toddlers.

I absolutely love the illustrations in this book! Elizabeth Sayles did a terrific job of capturing a young Asain girls romp in the snow! This book makes me hope it will snow a little this winter, just so my daughter & I can go out in the snow and relive the book together!

This book beautifully captures a child's wonder at falling snow. The text is very lyrical, which contributes greatly to the feeling of whimsy. And the text is sparse, with just a phrase or two per page; each of the following excerpts is spread over 3-4 pages.

"One little snowflake
falls on my nose.
It makes me shiver
from my head to my toes."

Each of those excerpts is spread over 3-4 pages. The little girl has such a look of joy and sheer wonder on her face, exactly what I saw on my children when we had our first snow fluries last week! And you can see her energy as she jumps and spins in the snow.

My girls (ages 6, 4, and 2 1/2) absolutely love this book, and I would recommend it to any parents of preschoolers or early elementary school children that enjoy lyrical text.

My daughter has enjoyed reading this book since she was two years old. She is now six and can read it to me, which I love. The text flows well, is sweet, and does a great job of creating a soft, wintry feel. Great for counting one to five as well. It can be difficult to find Asian children featured in illustrations and it was refreshing to see the adorable girl in this book...looks a bit like mine ;-)