Customer Reviews

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The poem is great, as always. However, I'm disappointed in the changes to the Susan Jeffers illustrations. In the original version of the book, 8.5 x 11" (approx),the illustrations are finer, more deilicate. In the new, smaller format (7 x 8.5"), the lines are cruder, fuzzier, and someone has added a lot more color. It detracts from the lovely, icy, wind-blown quality of the original art. In my local bookstore, they are not even able to order a copy in the original format. It's a shame. I don't know why the publisher has decided to mangle a beautiful book. I've bought and given as gifts numerous copies of the original version. I won't buy the "new" version.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening is Susan Jeffers' illustrated book of the Robert Frost poem. It is a beautifully illustrated book which can be enjoyed by the parent as a child sits snugly on their lap.

I think it is a book that shows a great deal of respect. It respects the intelligence of the child by introducing beautiful "adult" poetry to the young. Simultaneously it is respectful of the adult reader allowing them to read something which is jointly appealing. This is ideally how an illustrated book should be. It should have appeal to both the reader and the listener and this book is a perfect example of that.

Susan Jeffers illustrations are exquisite. She captures the quiet beauty of the woods on a snowy evening. Animals peak from behind trees and bushes watching the man and his sleigh. There is plenty to be observed by child and parent while reading this book . It will be a thrill to find and name the animals while reading the book. Every page is a work of art.

The illustrations also work to tell a story within a story providing possible explanations for why the man is in the woods on that particular evening. Children will have some fun seeing the kinds of this this old gentleman does when no one is watching.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is a wonderful wintertime book, but will make an excellent read in any season. What a wonderful gift for an adult to make for a child, a gift of poetry and beauty.

Please read the poem to your children out loud if they're old enough to follow it. Allow them the intense pleasure of visualizing the scene on their own before sharing another person's visualization with them. By all means, share this book, a beautiful, atmospheric slice of winter with them. Susan Jeffers has done such a splendid job on the illustrations. They are a hushed, crunchy-cold excursion into the dark solstice night in the deep woods. The only bits of color come from the living beings, the colorful man and his grandchildren and the shy forest animals he comes to feed. The stark, snow covered tree branches are illuminated to perfection and the big feathery snowflakes float down about you as you read. My favorite picture is the second to last one but I won't spoil it by telling you about it, except to say, see if it doesn't perfectly capture the reality you remember. This is a lovely book in and of itself, regardless of others that may have come before. Enjoy!

This and Graeme Base's Jabberwocky are my two favorite adaptations of poetry for young children. Both are elegant and still plenty of fun. Either one would be the ideal gift for a distant grandchild, if that's why you're on Amazon poking around.

Susan Jeffers' illustrations are shot through with winter light on snow, just a relief to look at. They're also full of pleasant little hidden treasures for the squirmy set. She uses details to recast the darker side of the poem, maybe, because this is a children's title. For example, the narrator's carrying a tree in his sled, to be planted: one of the promises to keep. (Note to illustrator: In the winter, the ground is typically frozen.)

Reading this aloud to children is a gratifying experience. Give yourself that tear in your eye.

This particular poem is my favorite Robert Frost poem, and is one of my top five favorite poems. I was hoping that this book would portray the simple beauty and nuances of this poem, to read to my granddaughter. It more than met my expectations. Even my husband, who is a photographer and who doesn't read as much as I do, found the artwork in this book to convey beautifully the words of Frost's poem.

This poem was not intended for children, and has many facets to it. But good poetry must be taught and appreciated early, and this book will help parents and teachers to show appreciation for poetry. If it doesn't start with the parents and teachers, then the children are never exposed to it.

Whenever I read this poem, and now this book, it conveys a sense of peace, a sense of being quiet, of learning to look for the beauty in the world around you. This should be a classic.

Karen Sadler

This gorgeously illustrated book with the classic Frost poem is a beautiful way to share poetry with children. When kids get older they can be introduced to deeper ideas behind the poem -- this book is a wonderful introduction to the poem, and Frost's work in general. Poetry-snobs will probably look down on this book, which is all the more reason to like it, buy it, and share it with every kid around.

When illustrators provide their visual representation of a well-loved story or poem, I'm often disappointed. That's not how I pictured it, I complain.

Well, not in this case. I love this poem dearly, with both "promises to keep" and "miles to go before I sleep" being recurring themes in how I think about what I need to get done each week. And behind the philosopy is the image of a bearded man driving his carriage through the snow on the way home to his waiting family. My father, I think, is the guy in my mental images of this.

The artwork in this book is absolutely delightful, and serves to make more vivid the images that were already in my mind. I love the poem, I love the art, and I love sharing these things with my daughter, who also loves this book.

Snow drifted down overnight and throughout the day, leaving our woods a veritable wonderland. I rushed to put my hands on this book, "STOPPING BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING." I knew Robert Frost's words would be especially appropriate this snowy day to introduce children to the lyrical beauty of this poem.

Susan Jeffers has used pen and ink, with some colored pencils in an overlay, to convey her childlike appreciation of the HUSH that settles like snow in the deep woods, and her love for all its creatures. The bearded Santa-type figure who drives the sleigh follows just the right instincts when he pauses to examine the "downy flakes" alighting on his mitten. What child hasn't studied these in wonder as they fall like stars out of the sky? Jeffers must also have enjoyed drawing the large hexagonal designs of flakes floating in the foreground.

Robert Frost's first line "Whose woods these are I think I know" is one of perfection, and with humor and music the poem continues. Reviewer mcHAIKU is grateful for a childhood filled with poetry, for hearing Robert Frost in person as an adolescent, and for the aching memory of the poet at JFK's inaugural ceremonies - - aging in the way he had so often written about.

Read, and 'SAY' poetry to your children, and encourage them to write so they will lose the fear of expressing themselves. And enjoy to the fullest every possible moment in the out-of-doors, snowy or otherwise!

I think it's wonderful to have this poem illustrated in a format that makes it more appealing to children. I think it's wonderful to introduce children to poetry, and I have read this to my three older children in the 4-7 1/2 year old range, and they enjoyed it. I wish there were more poems presented in this children's book format.

The illustrations in the large-scale (8.5 x 11) version are crisp and enchanting. Something is lost by shrinking it down to the 8x7 format. I plan to give this book to my nieces and nephews, but I will look on the used market for the larger-scale version. That version I would give a 5-star.

This lovely book depicts a beautiful poem by Robert Frost. The pictures are beautiful. My 4 1/2 year old grandson has memorized the poem and loves the pictures. We keep it on the coffee table to celebrate winter.
Even the book jacket has a winter look and feel to it.