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Snowy Valentine (2011)

by David Petersen(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0061463787 (ISBN13: 9780061463785)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Harper

review 1: In Snowy Valentine, Jasper the bunny goes out in the woods on a snowy day in search of the perfect present for his wife, Lilly. He visits all his forest friends hoping they can offer up ideas for that perfect gift. Each friend has a great idea for their own spouse but, of course, none of these ideas appeal to Jasper as being just right for Lilly. Jasper is so consumed by his task that he nearly becomes an ingredient in Teagan the fox’s gift for his wife’s rabbit stew. Just when Jasper is about to give up, Spaulding the cardinal, who has a different vantage point than Jasper and his other friends, convinces Jasper that his searching has actually produced a special gift for Lilly, his footprints leaving a trail in the shape of a heart. Petersen, a Michigan author/illus... moretrator, has created a story that stresses the idea that a simple gift from the heart can be the best gift of all. It’s a refreshing view in a holiday genre that often seems lacking. Petersen has avoided the traditionally overdone theme of kids writing and sending class valentines, often written in simple rhyme. Besides its quiet message, the book would be great for teaching the concept of perspective as it is only through Spaulding’s viewpoint that Lilly’s gift becomes possible. Snowy Valentine would also be a great book to use in comparison to one like Margery Cuyler’s The Biggest, Best Snowman. Both use the illustrations to reveal a hidden message or surprise. Both protagonists feel they have something to prove and both have the assistance of their animal friends to succeed. The illustrations are entrancing from end paper to end paper and they invite the reader to return long after the story to pour over them again to pick out more details, such as the lily pad-shaped rug and spider-web windows in Frog’s cottage.
review 2: This is a delightful book. I first met David Petersen when Mouse Guard was just starting out. I had the wonderful opportunity to interview him for a website that I was working with at the time and I have been a fan of his work ever since. Snowy Valentine is nothing like Mouse Guard, except that it embodies the same care and attention to detail, the same since of wonder and joy in the world and in life, and the same charm that Mouse Guard personifies. I hope this is only the first of a long series of similarly charming and warm-hearted books for younger readers. My only complaint was that it was so short. less

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