Snowflakes Fall

by Patricia MacLachlan (Author) Steven Kellogg (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade
Newbery Medalist MacLachlan and acclaimed illustrator Kellogg pay tribute to the community of Newtown, Connecticut, site of the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, with this illustrated poem in which falling snowflakes celebrate the uniqueness of life, its precious, simple moments, and the strength of memory. Full color.
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Falling snowflakes highlight the beauties and joys of winter in this celebration of the uniqueness of not only every snowflake, but every child.

MacLachlan’s lyrical free verse is set on the pages, sometimes drifting like the flakes in a storm, sometimes stacked up like so much snow on the ground. Her language is the same, at times gently flowing, at others, a staccato list, always matching the emotion: “Snowflakes / Fall / Drift / And swirl together / Like the voices of children.” Boot prints and sled tracks are not the only evidence of children in these pages, which are filled with the wonders and delights of childhood, wonderfully captured in Kellogg’s detailed and perfectly colored illustrations. They wake up to new snow, find animal tracks, catch snow on their tongues, snuggle in a cozy bed, revel in the companionship of pets, and make snowmen and snow forts and snow angels. Snowy wind at night can be scary, but in the morning, the world is new again. MacLachlan ends with a simple version of the water cycle, the snow melting and filling “the chattering streams” then “[s]ending drops of water up / To fall as rain.” And where there once was snow, there will be flowers, reminiscent of the snowflakes. No direct mention of the Sandy Hook shootings is made in this book dedicated to its victims; the emphasis is on life, not death.

MacLachlan and Kellogg celebrate the small things, but the small things turn out to be the big things after all: the children, “No two the same— / All beautiful.” (Picture book. 4-7)

School Library Journal

Starred Review

PreS-Gr 3--A gentle picture book created as tribute to the victims of the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. In his dedication, Kellogg expresses his hope that this book "celebrates the laughter, the playful high spirits, and the uniqueness of the children of Sandy Hook and of children everywhere." And indeed, the image of falling snowflakes-"Flake/After flake/After flake/Each one a pattern/All its own-/No two the same-/All beautiful"-makes an affecting metaphor. MacLachlan's lyrical and understated poem describes snowflakes swirling "together/Like the voices of children" to blanket backyards and sleeping gardens, rolling countryside, and the town's familiar sites. Though a nighttime storm may bring shadows that "darken dreams," morning always comes again, revealing a shining world and the opportunity to play outdoors. In springtime, "when the flowers bloom/The children remember the snowflakes/And we remember the children-/No two the same-/All beautiful." Throughout, Kellogg's paintings dazzle with brightly clad kids joyfully romping through winter scenes. As flowers bloom, some of the youngsters dance into a still-snowy sky, and the back endpaper shows a row of 20 snow angels taking flight from a moonlit hillside and soaring into the heavens. Accentuating the rebirth found in nature's cycle, text and images depict the process of healing and renewal, the comfort of memory, and the power of hope. Adults can share this book to address tragic events, discuss grief and the recovery process, and remind children of the precious beauty of life.--Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

In tribute to the lives lost in the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, acclaimed author and artist MacLachlan and Kellogg collaborate on a book that celebrates "the laughter, the playful high spirits, and the uniqueness of the children of Sandy Hook and of children everywhere," as Kellogg explains in his dedication. The text unfolds as a continuous verse, emphasizing renewal while drawing a comparison between the singularity of a snowflake and that of a child: "After the flowers are gone/ Snowflakes fall./ Flake/ After flake/ After flake/ Each one a pattern/ All its own--/ No two the same--/ All beautiful." Rosy-cheeked children and rowdy pet dogs cavort through the snowy wonderland of Kellogg's paintings, which give way to rainy spring scenes "Where soon/ Flowers will grow/ Again." The most direct allusion to the tragedy comes in two scenes picturing "fields of snow angels," a somber metaphor for the children killed. It's a potent reminder of the ephemeral nature of childhood and of the joys contained within those fleeting years. Ages 3-7. Agent: Rubin Pfeffer, East West Literary Agency. (Oct.)

Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Starred Review, School Library Journal, September 2013:
"Adults can share this book to address tragic events, discuss grief and the recovery process, and remind children of the precious beauty of life."

Starred Review, Booklist, September 1, 2013:
"This is a graceful homage to the inevitable seasons of life and remembrances of loved ones and times past. Whether or not they are familiar with loss and grief, children will feel the healing power of this hopeful, uplifting book."
Patricia MacLachlan

Patricia MacLachlan (1938-2022) was the award-winning author of many novels for children, including the Newbery Medal and Scott O'Dell Award-winning Sarah, Plain and Tall, which was adapted into a Hallmark television movie starring Glenn Close and Christopher Walken. She co-wrote the teleplay for the film as well as for two sequels, Skylark and Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End, based on her novels.

Honored with a Christopher Award and a National Humanities Medal among many others, MacLachlan was also the author of Baby, Waiting for the Magic, The Truth of Me, and the picture books Someone Like Me (illustrated by Chris Sheban), and The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse (illustrated by Hadley Hooper).

Chris Sheban has been awarded three gold and three silver medals from the Society of Illustrators. Some of the books he has illustrated are I Met a Dinosaur by Jan Wahl, Catching the Moon by Myla Goldberg, and What To Do With a Box by Jane Yolen. Someone Like Me is his first book with Roaring Brook Press.

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780385376938
Lexile Measure
600
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Random House Studio
Publication date
October 29, 2013
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV029000 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | General
JUV039000 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | General
JUV009100 - Juvenile Fiction | Concepts | Seasons
Library of Congress categories
Snow

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