Little Daughter of the Snow - Softcover

Ransome, Arthur

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1845075994 ISBN 13: 9781845075996

Publisher: Lincoln Children's Books, 2008

Synopsis

Childless and sad, an old Russian man and his wife watch the village children playing in the snow. One day they decide to make their own little snow girl. Imagine their amazement when her eyes start to shine, her hair turns black and she comes alive! But, as Little Daughter of the Snow tells them, she isn't quite like other children: she plays outside all day and night, and eats ice porridge for breakfast. This poignant retelling of Arthur Ransome's classic Russian tale, with stylish illustrations by Tom Bower, carries a strong message about the true value of love.

About this title

About the Author

Arthur Ransome spent many of his childhood holidays in the Lake District. After working some years as a journalist, he visited Russia and became sympathetic to the cause of Leon Trotsky and the Russian Revolution. When he returned to England, he published a collection of 21 folk tales called Old Peter's Russian Tales, then embarked on a series of children's books known as the Swallows and Amazons series, based on children's holiday adventures in the Lake District. These became classics during his lifetime, and he received many awards for them, including the very first Carnegie Medal in 1936 for Pigeon Post. He died in 1967. Tom Bower studied art at the Central School of Art and Design and at Hornsey College of Art. He has taught technology and art in Oxfordshire for over 20 years and runs sculpture workshops. He has also exhibited his paintings and designed CD covers and theatre and film sets. As a musician, he plays everything from guitar and dulcimer to pipe, tabor, tin whistle and bouzouki, and has made six CDs with the band Magpie Lane.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 4–An old man and woman build a snow girl, hoping that she will come alive and relieve their sorrow at being childless. At twilight, she begins to sing and dance, promising that she will continue to laugh and...play, unless she learns that they do not truly love her, and then she will melt away. Their days pass happily until spring, when the snow girl becomes lost in the woods. A red fox brings her home safely, but the couple begrudges him a fat hen as his reward. Feeling that they love her less than a hen, the child melts away and returns to her parents, Frost and Snow. Taken from Ransome's Old Peter's Russian Tales (Puffin, 1975; o.p.), this folktale has been abridged and updated, making the text more concise and easier to understand. The modern language is juxtaposed with the snow daughter's songs, which have been quoted from the original (e.g., No warm blood in me doth glow,/Water in my veins doth flow). The textured, folk-style illustrations invest the story with new energy and depict details of traditional Russian peasant life. Cool blues and whites capture the snowy outdoors, contrasting with the warm oranges in the old people's loving home. A well-told and colorfully illustrated version of a story about love and priorities.–Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR
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Edition details

• Publisher: Lincoln Children's Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1845075994
• ISBN 13: 9781845075996
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32
• Editor: Guild Shena
• Illustrator: Bower Tom