Customer Reviews

Is That You, Winter?

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

 

 

I love the handling of paint and color in this book. It goes so well with the character of Old Man Winter. The story as well as the illustrations are just the right surprising mix of cold and cranky, twisting and turning, swirling the reader right to the heart--just like Winter to do that!

Who ever thought there really WAS an old man, Winter? This story certainly makes one a believer after meeting Winter, an old man who also happens to be very grumpy. His morning goes from bad to worse as he wakes up in a bad mood, misplaces his hat, misses breakfast, and struggles with the eternal question, "Why do I always have to go to work?". His day is "saved", however, when he crashes to the ground into the world of a little girl who thinks of him as very improtant. She even defends him from her teasing playmates and makes Winter feel special again. With friends like this one, one can hardly stay grumpy for long- not even Winter! The pictures are absolutely hilarious. From the cowboy-like Winter, sporting a handlebar mustache and a ten-gallon hat, to his snow-creating dump truck, one cannto help but smile. The splashes of color and white, done in pastels, pencils, and watercolors, make the reader feel like he or she has run right into Old Man Winter- Brrrr!

The story, Is that you, Winter?, is about a petulant, old man who brings snow to the land from the back of his truck. He questions and grumbles about why he has to go to work, but foremost, he wonders for whom he makes it snow. The tale in itself, though brief and concise, has a heart-warming ending. The art work in the book paints vivid images of the wintry landscape. The illustrations, done in colored pencils and watercolors, are a thrown-together mixture of light and dark shades. The swirling colors provide the rough, scratchy text with more meaning than the words could possibly convey on their own. The child may only see pretty pictures and hear an interesting story, but deeper meanings could be contrived from the story itself. The tale shows that no matter how disdainfully a person views their work, they may generate the snow that warms someone's heart. The book is excellent, and I recommend it to anyone who wishes to read an intriguing story.

The lettering bespoke this characters emotions wonderfully and the art work coincided to the story , like a match made in heaven!! Need I say more... I am creating my own books for children. Mr. Gammell is one of my idols. I enjoyed this book immensely.

Great book with beautiful illustrations. I bought this as a gift after seeing it being used in a classroom. Love it!

Every year I do a unit in art class on Illustrators. Stephen Gammell is one of my favorites to start with because his pictures capture the imagination and creativity of a child. The splashes of color and white, done in watercolr, pastel, colored pencil make the reader feel like he or she caught in the winter storm! This story makes you belive that there really is an Old Man Winter. O.M. Winter wakes up in "A bad mood." He misplaces his hat, doesn't have time for breakfast and questions, "Why do I always have to got to work?" Ultimatly he is rescued after falling into the snowy world by a little girl that believes he makes it snow for her. She makes Winter feel special again. How could Winter possibly stay grumpy any longer! The pictures are expressivem hilarious, and colorful. One cannot help but smile after reading this story.

Up here in Northern Minnesota we always knew Old Man Winter had it out for us big time, but we never really knew why. Stephen Gammell provides an interesting explanation in his book "Is That You, Winter?" We discover that Old Man Winter is an ornery old cuss, who releases his icy blasts from the back of his truck. But Old Man Winter has a question: "Who do I make it snow for?" The answer is to be found in this book and you will not be surprised to learn it is an answer that makes even Old Man Winter happy.

How much you like this illustrated children's book is probably going to depend on how much you like Gammell's artwork, which strikes me and my limited knowledge of art as something of an impressionistic cartoon. Certainly the work is stylized and I would be willing to bet that children are going to find it more acceptable that some adults. I sort of like the way he depicts the snowstorm and you have to admit it is pretty distinctive.

Is That You, Winter? Is about an old, grumpy man who has to get up every day to go out and make it snow. While driving his truck of snow around, he begins to wonder for whom he makes it snow. Upon returning from his long day of work, he has a terrible accident and finds himself lying helpless in the snow. While the story in this book is amusing and well written, the illustrations do not seem to add to the experience of reading this book. The artwork appears to have been done by a five-year old. The colors seem to have been simply thrown onto the paper with no concern for what it is meant to look like. At times, the illustrations convey no sense of the emotions in the corresponding pages, and overall it seems that the illustrations were a mere afterthought thrown onto the pages in a rush. Perhaps a different method of illustrating would have added more to the telling of this book's story. However, even with the current illustrations, Is that You, Winter? is an interesting, and amusing story.