Keats, Ezra
Jack. 1962. The Snowy Day. Ill. by Ezra
Jack Keats. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. ISBN-13
(Softcover) 978-0-590-73323-6
Ezra Jack Keats wins the Caldecott
for his cleverly illustrated story A Snowy Day. Peter is a small boy enjoying a
snowy day and carries snowballs home as part of his adventure. Finding his
snowball is melted, he dreams all snow has melted. Happily, he discovers it was
only a dream and the new day brings more snow and takes a friend to join him.
The main setting is outdoors, but scenes for reflection on the day take place
in the home. Secondary characters include Peter’s mother, a few older boys, and
a friend across the hall.
Time is noted clearly through
references to morning and night, but also the light of day in the images.
Intense, warm reds and browns show the indoor mood as cozy, and you almost feel
the warmth of the household. Peter’s snowsuit is a bright red, showing his
image stands out against all other colors on every page. Excellent use of text
and illustration is present where words guide the reader to look at Peter’s
footprints in the snow. Alliteration is present for emphasis, such as “stick…smacking…snow.”
Use of text and image allow the reader to “hear” the snow fluttering off the
tree as Peters smacks it.
There is a sense of conflict when he
recognizes he is too young to play with older children. There is sadness in the
mood when Peter cannot find his snowball. In the climax, he as dreamed all snow
is melted, but this conflict is resolved when he awakens to yet another snowy
day. There is symbolism in the use of angels in the snow and the alliterated
term smiling snowman whose smile is anthropomorphic in nature. The angels can
be seen as symbols of the peace that Peter feels, in spite of the fact he is
not old enough yet to play with older boys.
Although Peter’s mother is large in
size to show importance, she is faceless and therefore the reader focuses on
Peter and his expression. Ethnic and culture are represented with the dark skin
color of both Peter and his mother. Children of color can identify with Peters
hair. It is created with a drawing style in contrasting shades of brown where
the reader can almost feel the texture. A cool shade of blue sky, with snow
that is not completely white, lends playfulness to the snow scenes. An
open-ended finish has Peter and his friend walking toward a new adventure.
Children recognize there may be
sadness, but a resolution is found when Peter sees a new snowy day. As expressed
in Publishers Weekly in January, 1996 “…The
Snowy Day pays homage to the wonder and
pure pleasure a child experiences when the world is blanketed in snow” (Books
in Print, 1996). This delightful children’s picture book is also available in
Spanish as Un día de nieve (2004).
References:
Keats, Ezra
Jack. 1962. The Snowy Day. Ill. by
Ezra Jack Keats. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers.
Keats, Ezra
Jack. 2004. Un día de nieve. Ill. by Ezra Jack Keats. Norwalk, CT: Weston Woods
Studios,Inc.
Books in
Print (via TWU Databases). Accessed September 8, 2013. http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2125/DetailedView.aspx?hreciid=|9404262|1473251&mc=USA#
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