Is there anything more magical than snow? Yes. Yes there is. Snow Queens. From Hans Christian Anderson’s poignant tale of an icy heart and young love lost, to Disney’s Queen Elsa and the world STILL chorusing ‘Let it go’, there’s something altogether ethereal about a Snow Queen. So Lou Treleaven’s The Snowflake Mistake ventures into hallowed territory.
In this story, The Snow Queen is responsible for punching out perfect snowflakes in her great machine in the sky. But her young would-be apprentice, Princess Ellie, is far more interested in chasing the birds and riding storm clouds than creating flawless flakes. SO on the day she’s left in charge of the snowflake machine the world runs out of snow! Blundering blizzards! There’s only one thing for it, poor Ellie will have to cut those snowflakes out by hand. The result… well you’ll have to have a little read to find out.
Lou Treleavan’s imagination conjures up all the magic of the season, with her rich descriptions such as floating ice palaces in the sky. As for her her rhyme…
“Each flake is unique in its own special way, but seen all at once, it’s a dazzling display”
– it’ll take the chill out of the coldest winter’s night. Fittingly, Maddie
Frost does the illustrations and does a beautiful job of making those flakes all but flutter off the page. In fact at the end of the story, your little ones can have a go at creating their own.
So at a time of year that provides rich pickings for chilly children’s fiction, Lou and Maddie have created something that’ll bring the whole family in from the cold.
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