The First Day of Winter

by Denise Fleming, Denise Fleming (Illustrator)

Overview

From renown picture book author Denise Fleming, a cozy, cumulative book to warm a cold winter day

Alive with swirling snow and lots of outdoor fun, the first ten days of winter bring special gifts for a special friend. This cumulative tale will have children chanting along as they discover all the trimmings needed for the most perfect snowman ever!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312371388
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	10/30/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	376,378
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Denise Fleming has written and illustrated many children's books, including In the Tall, Tall Grass; Shout! Shout It Out!; and Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy. She won a Caldecott Honor for In the Small, Small Pond. Denise published her first painting in the third grade, when she started taking classes at the Toledo Museum of Art and one of her paintings was chosen to be the cover of a teacher's magazine. She now works primarily with paper, by pouring colored paper pulp through hand-cut stencils. She lives in Toledo, Ohio.

Editorial Reviews

Fleming's pulp paintings are a celebration of shape, color, and texture.” —The Horn Book

“Fleming brings a cheerful childlike tone to her text, along with abundant touches of humor and tenderness. ” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

From the Publisher

Youngsters can hum along to "The Twelve Days of Christmas," revamped in contemporary fashion by Denise Fleming in The First Day of Winter. "On the second day of winter my best friend gave to me 2 bright blue mittens and a red cap with a gold snap." Fleming uses her unusual technique (with colored cotton fiber) to demonstrate the many gradations of wintry whites and the contrast of that red cap-and the identity of the narrator makes for added fun and suspense. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-K-Told in a rhythm reminiscent of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," a snowman's tale begins, "On the first day of winter my best friend gave to me-/a red cap with a gold snap." The benefactor continues to deck out the snowman with two bright blue mittens for his stick hands; five birdseed pockets; nine big black buttons for his eyes, nose, and front; and, finally, 10 salty peanuts for his wintry toes. As in the holiday song, each time a new item is introduced, the story counts back to the first gift. Fleming captures the tranquility and light of snowy days with her unique artistic style. Her paper-pulp and stencil illustrations depict a winter wonderland in which vibrant striped scarves, blue mittens, and red hats provide the color in a white, uncluttered landscape. A squirrel, a mouse, a bird, a cat, a rabbit and a deer appear on each spread and seem to gaze at readers. The perspective shifts throughout the book, so on one page children look down on the snowman, while on others they look up at him from the ground. Readers finally see the snowman's friend, a bundled-up child, on the 10th day of winter. Quietly told and thoughtfully illustrated, Fleming's work celebrates the season and all of winter's creatures.-Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Fleming creatively employs the structure of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" to create a cumulative tale about the decorations for a snowman, beginning with the addition of a "red cap with a gold snap" on the first day of winter. On each subsequent day, the African-American narrator's best friend provides something else to add to the snowman's outfit: "2 bright blue mittens, 3 striped scarves," and much more, right on down to "10 salty peanuts" for the snowman's toes. Fleming uses her signature collage technique against pale gray backgrounds dotted with white snowflakes, with different animals on each page helping to add the details to the snowman. The perspectives vary until the last, wordless spread, which shows the completed snowman in a horizontal orientation that provides a satisfying conclusion. Teachers and librarians will add this volume to story times with winter or snow themes, and the clever new words to a favorite old tune might become a new winter favorite in music classrooms. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews