The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is a Caldecott winner. The book has beautiful artwork. It is quite simplistic, but very effective for the clean simplicity for the book.
The story recounts a boy Peter's day of adventure in the snow. I enjoyed this story because it is an incredibly happy and pleasant realistic fiction book. The book does not really have an antagonist, which could lead you to assume that it is without substance, but this is not the case. This book shows, realistically, that some days there are no antagonists and they are just good. I think this is an important idea to share with students.
Here is a lesson plan for very young students just starting to learn about different types of weather that uses The Snowy Day.
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/snowy-day-lesson-plan
I remember this book from when I was little, and it’s a good book. I really like your idea about using this book to teach the weather, since the book is about winter. I would maybe read this book on a snowy day and I would have the kids do some snowflakes out of paper for a little art project.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this book so it's interesting to me that there isn't an antagonist. It would be a good example to kids learning the literary components that they are not always necessary to make a good book. I also like that the illustrations are simple. Sometimes when there is too much going on in a books pictures, it's hard to focus on the story line.
ReplyDeleteI think this book would be perfect to read at the beginning of winter! It will get your students excited about the snow. You might even read it on a day that outside recess has been cancelled because of snow. It will bring the fun inside to them, without the cold wet actual snow! Good pick.
ReplyDeleteI loved this book. I loved that it was simple but not boring. I think it is a good comparison to more recent books that are so busy and have so much going on, it reflects a more simple normal day where a child plays in the snow, not sits inside with a video game.
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