Library Witch

Wolf in the Snow 1. Bibliographic: Cordell, Matthew. Wolf in the Snow. New York: Feiwell and Friends, 2017. ISBN 978-1-250-07636-6 2. Summary: A young girl and a wolf pup set off on their own paths through the snow, only to end up lost , together. The girl helps the wolf find its family, eventually becoming too tired to find her own way home. The wolf pack returns to help her reunite with her family. 3. Critical analysis: Illustrations of a brave girl in a red coat traveling through a snowstorm tell a story of compassion between herself and a young wolf. Only a few onomatopoeias are used to indicate feeling or plot points, but the expressiveness of the girl’s eyes and her body language convey most of the meaning. The facing page layouts done in ink and watercolor are powerful, particularly when the girl and the mother wolf come face to face. This 2018 Caldecott winning story is wonderful to sit and read with a child or two, but would be challenging to convey i...

Imagine! 1. Bibliographic: Colón , Raul. Imagine! New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2018. ISBN 9781481462730 2. Summary: In this wordless picture book, a boy visits an art museum, presumably for the first time, and the art he encounters captures his imagination. The figures of art come to life, dancing out of their frames to join him in an adventure through New York City and back again to the museum, inspiring the boy to take his experiences and re-create them on a wall in his own neighborhood. 3. Critical analysis: This chalk- illustrated, wordless story is told through panels and large page layouts depicting a child being inspired by the art he encounters on his visit to the museum. The illustrations mimic that of the artwork in the museum, further immersing the boy and the reader into the magic of the art. There’s also a hidden little treat of a pigeon that shows up on every page that takes place outside. While the boy appears to be non-wh...

The Snowy Day 1. Bibliographic: Keats, Ezra Jack. The Snowy Day. New York: Viking Penguin, 1962. ISBN 0-670-65400-0 2. Summary: A little boy named Peter wakes up to find his neighborhood full of fresh snow and he sets out to explore it fully. At the end of the day he attempts to save a little piece of his adventure, only to find the snowball he brought inside has melted. He goes to bed disappointed, but upon waking the next day finds a new layer of snow to explore with a friend. 3. Critical analysis: The collage / mixed media illustrations of The Snowy Day are iconic, and can almost tell the whole story on their own. Keats’ use of simple sentences tell the tale of a snow day adventure almost the same way a child would tell it is brilliant, and likely why it’s such a beloved story. This book caused a stir when it was published for featuring a black child and mother, but was successful in that it did not focus on culture, stereotypes, or prejudices. It ...

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