Product Description

Have you ever built a snowman and discovered the next day that his grin has gotten a little crooked, or his tree-branch arms have moved? And you've wondered . . . what do snowmen do at night? This delightful wintertime tale reveals all! Caralyn Buehner's witty, imaginative verse offers many amusing details about the secret life of snowmen and where they go at night, while Mark Buehner's roly-poly snowmen are bursting with personality and charm. From the highly successful team that created such winning titles as Fanny's Dream, Snowmen at Night is fabulous, frosty, and fun!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4844 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780803725508
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Not since Frosty paraded through the village square have snowmen enjoyed such a slip-sliding good time as they do in the Buehners' (Fanny's Dream) latest flight of fancy. When a boy observes that the snowman he built the day before now looks droopy and disheveled, he imagines what happened to his snow creation during the night. Soon the boy pictures all the neighborhood snowmen gathered in the park for "ice-cold cocoa," a snowball fight, a round of making snow angels and more. Surely a full night of play and a long glide back to their homes must be the explanation. The rhythm of the rhyming text sometimes matches the rollicking spirit of the snowmen's wintry pursuits, but occasionally stumbles: "Then the snowman games begin: They line up in their places,/ each one anxious for his turn in the snowman races." The glee comes through at its most infectious in Mark Buehner's oil-and-acrylic paintings of the merrymakers, who look so delighted in their revelry that readers won't be able to help smiling in response. Bringing the brisk snap of the season to the fore, his scenes feature a natural light show, depicting an inky night sky and fluffy snow that glistens beneath moonlight and (street) lamplight, and eventually, the gradual brightening of dawn. Children will like being in on the secret here and eagle-eye readers will relish finding hidden figures in the shadows, clouds and snowdrifts. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1-A child wonders why a snowman looks droopy the morning after it was made and decides that snowmen must be nocturnal. The bouncy, rhyming text describes the imagined rumpus in which the snowmen have races, do tricks on skates, and bump into one another like clowns. "They gather up their snowballs, the pitcher takes his aim,/and underneath the moonlit sky they play a baseball game./No one knows just how it started,/but soon it's quite a sight-/with snowmen throwing snowballs/in the world's best snowball fight!" After a night of action, the tired snowmen return to their homes. The oil-over-acrylic paintings capture the fun of the rollicking adventures and bring these round creations to life. The illustrations convincingly depict their solid bodies in action, and the moonlit snowy setting provides a sense of mystery. The imaginative description and lively art could provide an entertaining read-aloud for bedtime sharing or winter storytimes.
Adele Greenlee, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
PreS. What do snowmen do at night? This picture book, which glows with snow and starshine, has an answer. After they slide through the dark, into the park, where snowmothers make ice-cold cocoa, they race, have snowball fights, and sled down the hill. Finally, tuckered out, they go back to their respective houses, hats askew. The functional text has bouncy rhymes, but it's the artwork that is spectacular. Acrylic-over-oil paintings feature fat, happy snowpeople who practically jump--or sled--off the pages. What Buehner does with his colors and shadings as he captures night is particularly impressive. The purple of sunset, lit by street lamps, darkens into the black of the early morning hours; dawn breaks amethyst gold and then deepens into morning blue. As dusk moves into dawn, the snowpeople's play changes from frenzied fun into quieter pursuits; action and setting mirror one other. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Mom of Five Children
This is a fabulous book, certain to become a favorite! The creative story is written in rhyme, with clever use of humor along the way. The illustrations are breathtaking and silly. I have read this to my 3 year old, 5 year old twins and 8 year old twins. They can't get enough of the fun snowman antics. I've also read this to a Pre-K class and 3rd grade class. ALL CHILDREN HAVE RESPONDED POSITIVELY to this charming story. The best surprise is when you read the last page and learn about hidden images in the book. After reading this book 5 or 6 times we are still finding new images, like the snowman face in the moon.

All that's missing is a corn cob pipe
A far happier idea of what happens to snowmen than "Frosty the Snowman". Author Caralyn Buehner and her husband Mark Buehner (the book's illustrator) woke one morning to find that the snowman they'd created the night before had surreptitiously moved several yards closer to their front door. Inspired by their snow creature's apparent desire to move around and about, the Buehners started speculating on the eventide activities of snowmen in general. The result is the lovely and ludicrous "Snowmen At Night".

As the young boy narrator tells it, one day he made a snowman with coal eyes and mouth and a carrot nose. The next day he returned to his fine creation only to find it looking all saggy baggy. This causes the boy to speculate, "What do snowmen do at night?". The answer is clear. Snowmen like to go to the park drinking ice-cold cocoa made by (and here it gets a little odd) "snowman mothers". Hm. Then they start to participate in their own very particular games. These include races, skating on the frozen ponds, making snow angels, and having fabulous snow fights. There's even some big time sledding down monstrous (but not too scary) hills. Towards the end, you really can't blame the snowmen if they've lost an eye here or a mitten there. Maybe they look a little bit worse for wear by the morning's light, but rest assured that they've definitely had a good time while you slept.

It's difficult for a person of my generation to read a snowman book and not instantly think of old "Calvin and Hobbes" cartoons. The snowmen pictured here are actually not too different from the ones pictured in Bill Watterson's strips, but they're significantly less scary. I think you'll instantly gravitate to this book the minute you see the cover. On the top half stand the serene smiling snowmen in the bright noonday sun. On the bottom half they're cavorting in a kind of makeshift conga line. Kids will warm to the idea of snowmen (something they themselves have created) having lives entirely of their own. It doesn't hurt any that the guys definitely seem to be having the time of their lives. Caralyn's text is well complimented by Mark's illustrations too. There's even been the extra added element of hidden shapes for kids to find in the pictures. If readers look carefully they might be able to spot a cat, a rabbit, a Santa face, and more. I appreciated that these images never once drew inordinate attention to themselves or distracted from the pictures. That is the mark of an expert illustrator.

The back flap of the book shows a photograph of the rogue snowman that inspired this book in the first place. The book isn't the most original in the world and its illustrations aren't going to blow you away with either their wit or their artistic merits but it's certainly a great wintertime tale. There are five million books about toys coming to life at night, so why not snowmen too? If you want a picture book that takes away the sting of snowmen melting, I suggest you definitely check out and read the jaunty flouncy "Snowmen At Night" and read it to your loved ones. It's a book with pep in its step.

Cute Tale
My 6month old son fell in love with this book. Now at nine months old he will only fall asleep for his nap after reading this book and "Green Wilma". A must buy for any library!! The hidden pictures will keep any aged child entertained.
(Looking back on this review...now 4 months later, my son will pick this book out of a pile and then lay down for his story.)