Featuring "On a Snow-Melting Day: Seeking Signs of Spring"

Yesterday was a slip-sloppy, snow-melting day with bright sunshine on Long Island. 

Little children donned their boots to romp in snow-sloshing puddles while I choose to review a delightful new children's book. 

On a Snow-Melting Day: Seeking Signs of Spring, written by Buffy Silverman nature poet, photographer, and author of 90 nonfiction books for children, is a delightful book on nature preparing for spring's arrival. It debuts on February 4, 2020. 

Every page of the book is filled with bright, vivid nature photographs on a snow-melting, awaiting-spring day. Strong verbs and descriptive adjectives take on a playful nature as engaging rhyming brings to life a nature walk. Children eager to find out more about what they see on each page have access to back matter and a glossary at the end of the book. This coupled with a poetic, rhythmic flow of thoughts makes this book a power=packed opportunity to broaden content knowledge and vocabulary. 

While On a Snow-Melting Day is geared for children ages 3-8, I believe that my 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter will enjoy finger-pointing her way through the snow-melting day adventure. I can't wait to introduce her to this beautifully-designed story that has the feel of a poetic photo-journal for children. Whether you live in climates that share the wonders of late winter snow or not, this book encourages children to use their imagination to uncover the delights of nature and turnover of seasons. As Buffy says, "The world comes to life...on a snow-melting day."

Author's Thoughts:  

On a Snow-Melting Day started as an idea for StoryStorm 2018, in response to a blog post that encouraged writers to pay attention to what’s around them. Here’s what I wrote in my notebook:
                             It was a drip droppy  
                                   slip sloppy
                                          snow melting day 
Then, I wrote a couple more lines about mist rising, boots sinking in slush, puddles growing on the lake. My notes continued: Is there a story here or just a poem? Initially, I thought the image in my head was more of a poem than ta story idea, but I later decided to explore the idea more fully, I researched what different animals might be doing on a snow-melting day and tried to paint a picture of the landscape getting closer and closer to spring.             

Knowing that Buffy is a fabulous nature photographer, I was interested if she took all of the photos in the book. She replied:

Most of the photographs are stock photographs from professional photographers. But I did offer some of my own and was thrilled that they chose to include three of them.

Librarians, teachers, parents, enhance your personal or public library with this bright and vibrant story of a snow-melting day. You may also want to take your class outside with their notebooks to observe their natural surroundings with an option to write their thoughts on a winter-watching day. You can access the book on NetGallery and read reviews on Goodreads. 

Do you know that February 5th is World Read Aloud Day?

I  am looking forward to reading aloud On a Snow-Melting Day to my granddaughters. I hope you will join World Read Aloud Day, too, because Reading Matters! 

I also invite you to join me at #NYEDChat on January 27, 2020 from 8-8:30 pm EST for a Twitter chat on "the Year of Reading". My guest moderators, Peter H. Reynolds, Paul Reynolds, and Susan Verde, children book authors, are eager to chat with all interested. I plan on extending an invitation to librarians, educators, parents, students, and colleagues to celebrate the love of reading.