Stella Queen of the Snow - Softcover

Gay, Marie-Louise

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1865083305 ISBN 13: 9781865083308

Publisher: Allen & Unwin Children's Books, 2001

Synopsis

Stella takes her little brother, Sam, out into the snow. As usual he is full of questions and Stella is ready with answers, eager to explore and reassure. The book shows the complementary personalities of the two characters in a story which explores sibling relations as well as the physical world. Imprint.

About this title

Review:

It's Sam's first snowstorm and he has a lot of questions. "Is the snow cold? Can you eat a snowflake? Where does a snowman sleep? How many snowflakes are there in a snowball?" His big sister, Stella, has the answer to every question because she is very knowledgeable on the subject, being Queen of the Snow. "Polar bears eat snowflakes for breakfast," Stella informs Sam.

"With milk?" asks Sam.

"Yes," says Stella. "And sugar."

The two venture out into the white wonderland, exploring the tastes and textures of snowflakes and snowballs, the thrill of sledding ("I think I'll walk down," says Sam), and the magic of snow angels. Worldly Stella instructs her cautious little brother in all the ways of winter in the way only a big sister can.

Readers will be gratified at the return of Stella, Star of the Sea's adorable, true-to-life siblings. Popular award-winning author-illustrator Marie-Louise Gay has created another breathtakingly cute picture book about confident, carrot-top Stella and her earnest but uncertain little brother. Gay's watercolors of blackbirds on denuded tree branches, a brown pup wading through belly-deep snow, and the beaming siblings flailing their limbs to make snow angels are simply perfect. And her kid-dialogue is perfection squared. (Ages 3 to 7) --Emilie Coulter

From Booklist:

Ages 4-8. In this lovely story, inspired by lines from Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha," a young Chippewa girl asks the wah-wah-taysee (firefly) to "Reveal the secrets of this night, Wah-Wah-taysee, with your light" and guide her through the forest to home. As the sun sets, the firefly illuminates her path and that of the forest animals who join her, including the turtle, the muskrat, the bear, and the fawn. Safe in her cradle bed, surrounded by her guardian animals, the girl embraces sleep, asking the firefly to "fly into my dreams with me, Wah-Wah-taysee, Wah-Wah-taysee." Lyrical, rhyming stanzas are rhythmic and soothing; enchanting, luminous watercolor-and-pencil art, richly detailed, captures the magic and wonder of nature and its inhabitants. This book recalls Jonathan London's Fireflies, Fireflies, Light My Way (1996), but more identifiably reflects Native American traditions and beliefs, as it provides a gentle, reassuring lead-in to bedtime and sweet dreams. Shelle Rosenfeld
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About this edition

• Publisher: Allen & Unwin Children's Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1865083305
• ISBN 13: 9781865083308
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32