Nana's Book Library

• Age: 4-8
• Particulars (Out of 5):  
  • Inappropriate language:  None.
  • Sexual references:  None.
  • Alcohol:  None.  

Reminder: Nana’s Books are rated G.  Anyone could read them, or listen to them being read aloud.

This lovely book, perfect for reading aloud, won the Caldecott Medal in 1948.  It was also named an ALA (American Library Association) Notable Book.  It feels very much like Red Light, Green Light, and if I couldn’t see for myself the author’s name and read his bio at the end of the book, I would think I was reading a book by Margaret Wise Brown.  It’s that gentle and sweet.

            Our setting is a friendly little town, and we meet the main characters right away:  

“The postman said it looked like snow.  The farmer said it smelled like snow.  The policeman said it felt like snow, and his wife said her big toe hurt, and that always meant snow.  Even the rabbits knew it, and scurried around in the dead leaves.  While the children watched the low grey sky, waiting for the first snowflake to fall.”

            And does it ever snow!  “Automobiles looked like big fat raisins buried in snowdrifts.  Houses crouched together, their windows peeking out from under great white eyebrows.  Even the church steeple wore a pointed cap on its top.”  The children play, the rabbits make tracks in the snow, and the postman, the farmer, the policeman and his wife carry on with their jobs.  Later, the snow melts, and the children watch for the first robin of spring.

            This book is available in paperback and hardcover, new and used, on Amazon.  Multiple used copies are available on eBay and Abebooks.

©Janet Farrar Worthington

Note:  I am an Amazon affiliate, so if you do click a link and buy a book, I will theoretically make a small amount of money, but I’m just starting this thing, so I don’t even know how that works.   Still, full disclosure, etc.