Oh wow! Dream Snow has got to be one of my favourite Christmas themed books … ever. Soft, gentle and with trade mark Eric Carle style this one will make you tingle with happiness and Christmas cheer.
With a little more text than other picture books by the same author such as The Artist Who Painted The Blue Horse and The Very Hungry Caterpillar this is a great story for those who are gradually growing out of them (if that can be possible 😉 .
The storyline follows a farmer, modelled on Eric’s friend Barry Moser, who after feeding his animals and drinking his peppermint tea (love!), falls asleep dreaming of snow. Acetate images of snow cover the paper pages which depict each animal in the dream sequence. The acetate pages are then turned over to reveal the animals, to the delight and excitement of the children! Pure magic!
When the farmer awakens to see real snow outside he suddenly panics over an important job he has forgotten. He pulls on a suspiciously familiar looking red coat and big black boots.
“He grabbed a box, slung a sack over his shoulder and dashed outside.”
I simply can’t tell you what happens at the end because my love of this book comes from this surprise. It’s cute, lovely and provides a warm fuzzy feeling!
“I had always been reluctant about making a Christmas book, but when the idea for my book Dream Snow came to me it seemed impossible to resist.” Eric Carle, 2009.
Unlike his previous books, each animal is set against a bright background (gone is the simple whiteness), achieved through the layering of painted tissue papers. Oh, he is good!
My favourite part? Well apart from that ending, it’s got to be how the farmer named his animals;
“He could count them on the fingers of one hand.
So the farmer named his animals One, Two, Three, Four and Five.”
You’ll never guess what he named his tree…. !
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