Snowy Race

by April Jones Prince, Christine Davenier (Illustrator)

Overview

Cozy up with this wintry journey! A girl and her father race their plow through a snowstorm.

Will they make it to the train station in time? And who's waiting for them?

This timeless seasonal classic captures the thrill of snow and the warmth of family. In the midst of a whirling snowfall, a girl and her father pile into their big red snow plow. Through slippery streets, up winding hills, they race— clearing the snow and heading for the train station to meet a very special traveler.

Accomplished author April Jones Prince's beautiful rhyming text is just right for one or two readers. Featuring expressive paintings by the beloved illustrator of the New York Times best-selling series The Very Fairy Princess, Christine Davenier, Snowy Race is a perfect rhyming read-aloud.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823449941
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	12/07/2021
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.91(w) x 9.01(h) x 0.17(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

April Jones Prince is the author of many books for young readers, including What Do Wheels Do All Day?, a Child magazine best book of the year, and most recently, Goldenlocks and the Three Pirates, illustrated by Steven Salerno. She lives in Massachusetts.

Christine Davenier is the acclaimed illustrator of more than 60 books for children, including the New York Times bestselling series The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton, as well as the New York Times best Illustrated The First Thing My Mama Told Me by Susan Marie Swanson, and Miss Lina's Ballerinas by Grace Maccarone. She lives in France.

Editorial Reviews

…delightful…Prince's text is intriguingly spare, letting Davenier's softly exuberant wintertime scenes shine.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

"Prince’s ('What Do Wheels Do All Day?') text is intriguingly spare, letting Davenier’s ('The First Thing My Mama Told Me') softly exuberant wintertime scenes shine."—The New York Times

"Swift, impressionistic sketches filled with soft pastel-hued washes create pastoral snowy scenes that contrast with the warmer, more saturated domestic scenes and with the thick-lined, cherry-red snowplow. Long, layered smears of white create a satisfying illusion of a blizzard, and Davenier utilizes various interesting perspectives, such as the view into the snowy woods from behind the windshield. . . . A winning, winter race." —Kirkus Reviews


"The composition of the art and the increasing textual energy create urgency and tension as the snowplow battles the elements from page to page. . . . The text avoids labeling who the characters are to one another, leaving room for many families to find themselves in the story." —The Horn Book

"Rhyming, minimal text coupled with fetching illustrations by Davenier expertly convey the exhilarating drama of entering into a snowstorm as well as the comfy feelings of being in a warm house while the weather is frightful."—School Library Journal
 
"Prince writes with bustling verbs—slip, slide, chase, spin, whistling, howling, climbing, growling—as the plow chugs along, the snowy winds accumulate and father and daughter, always smiling, brave the elements.  The page turns on these landscape-oriented spreads are especially compelling as the vehicle plows through the snow toward its destination. At one point, illustrator Christine Davenier even puts readers in the vehicle, seated behind father and daughter as we look through the windshield with them. Reds, greens and blues pop off these snowy-white spreads, as do the lemony yellows of the snowplow’s headlights and the sun trying to peek through winter clouds."—BookPage
 
"In this streamlined story in rhyme, the snow is piling up and our protagonist needs to get into town. Fortunately, her father drives the snowplow, so through the snow the pair go, with the occasional slip and slide, as they try to make it to town in time. . . . While there are touches of Davenier’s familiar peacock tones and fluid watercolor washes, she’s also got some grainier pencil-type textures that add coziness, and the outside scenes are creamily frosted, muting the hue of the tomato-red truck." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

12/01/2019

PreS-Gr 1—A young girl wakes up in her bedroom full of eager anticipation because today, "She's on her way." Behind her bed, viewers can see a wall calendar where dates have been crossed out and today is circled in red. The child gets dressed as snowflakes fall outside her window and soon she and her dad march into the snowstorm and climb aboard a huge snowplow. It's still dark outside and with headlights on, they plow through a small town that has been blanketed in snow. The text continues to give clues that they are on some sort of mission or race and the tension mounts with each page. At last they reach their destination—the train station! Waiting there is a woman with a suitcase and the two embrace one another. The book concludes with them back in their home all snug and safe. VERDICT Rhyming, minimal text coupled with fetching illustrations by Davenier expertly convey the exhilarating drama of entering into a snowstorm as well as the comfy feelings of being in a warm house while the weather is frightful. The fact that the text never explains who the guest is will allow for a nice discussion.—Amy Nolan, St. Joseph Public Library, MI

School Library Journal

2019-06-25
A young child rides along in the snowplow to complete a very special errand.

Chronicling the breathless moment when a child will "finally get to help!" and be included in the adult world of work, a child protagonist (with car seat!) loads into Dad's oversized plow truck to zoom off through a snowstorm. Conveyed in expressive couplets, the well-paced rhymes admirably evoke a sense of urgency about their trip and vividly paint a scene of the worsening wintry weather: "Frosty crystals chase and spin. / Snowplow shifts and tunnels in." When the pair finally reaches their destination, readers see what made this particular journey so important—it's Mom waiting for them at the train station! Swift, impressionistic sketches filled with soft pastel-hued washes create pastoral snowy scenes that contrast with the warmer, more saturated domestic scenes and with the thick-lined, cherry-red snowplow. Long, layered smears of white create a satisfying illusion of a blizzard, and Davenier utilizes various interesting perspectives, such as the view into the snowy woods from behind the windshield. Gender is handled refreshingly here, with Dad capably handling child care and chores, and while the flap copy refers to the child as female, the long-haired child appears in neutral primary colors, and bedroom decor includes trucks and elephants, with nary a pink toy in sight. All three family members have pale skin, Dad with brown hair and Mom and child with straight, black hair.

A winning winter race. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews