Final Reflection on SHSU course Digital Technology for the School Librarian

 

REVIEW OF A BIG BED FOR LITTLE SNOW

 

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lin, Grace. 2019. A BIG BED FOR LITTLE SNOW. New York City, NY: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers. ISBN 9780316478366.

 

B. PLOT SUMMARY
At the beginning of the winter season, a boy named Little Snow gets a new bed made for him by his mother. She reminds him that it is for sleeping on, not for jumping on. He agrees to sleep on the bed, not jump on it.

That night, after his mother left from tucking him in, Little Snow started jumping on his bed. When he heard his mother coming back, he lay down and pretended he hadn’t been doing anything.

The next morning, after he had woken up, he decided to jump on his bed some more. When he heard his mother coming, he laid back down and pretended he hadn’t been jumping on his bed.

That winter, Little Snow enjoyed jumping on his bed whenever his mother was not around. One time when he was jumping on his bed, when he landed on it he made a rip in it.

Whenever he jumped on it, some feathers came out of it. By the end of the winter there are no more feathers left inside the bed.      

 

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
This is a sweet story illustrating how a mother’s special love for her child is such a beautiful thing. The little boy in the story thinks he is getting away with doing something that he isn’t supposed to be doing.

However, upon analysis of the end of the story, we realize that the boy’s mother is not unaware of what has been happening all along. At the end of the winter, she asks him, “Little Snow! Did you jump all the feathers out of your bed again?” (my italics.) So, we realize that she has known all along what has been happening. In fact, Little Snow had apparently done the exact same thing the previous winter!

The illustrations fit the story beautifully. On the fourth page, the mother is shown tucking her son into bed for the night. The bed and blanket look as if the son is going to sleep on a cloud. The matching snowflake pajamas of the mother and child add another touch.

 

D. REVIEW EXCERPTS

Kirkus: “At the beginning of winter, Little Snow’s mother fills his big, sky-blue bed with feathers and reminds him that it is “for sleeping, not jumping.” Of course, Little Snow cannot resist, and whenever Mommy isn’t around, he jumps and jumps. Each time, some feathers fall from his cloud-shaped bed. At one point, he jumps extra high and the bed tears, releasing a sky full of feathers that falls in a blizzard of snow upon a city’s rooftops. In what is clearly a companion to Lin’s Caldecott Honor book A Big Mooncake for Little Star (2018), this book’s color palette consists of a solid white negative space instead of black, and light-blue snowflakes adorn Little Snow’s white pajamas. As before, a mischievous little protagonist with Asian features is the cause of a natural phenomenon that readers will recognize with satisfaction. The story is clever but simple, without the extra layers of cultural and natural complexity that made Lin’s previous book so exceptional. Lin’s gouache illustrations are an echo of that book as well, with Little Snow’s pajama edges similarly bleeding into the background. It’s still visually intriguing, but this time around, everything feels more stark than luminous. The most delightful spread is the most colorful one, as the snow falls over city buildings full of diverse children peering out the windows, enchanted. A sweet and clever modern myth that may send readers back to its lauded companion.”

 

 

School Library Journal: “When Little Snow’s mother makes him a big, round bed filled with warm feathers, the boy cannot resist jumping on it despite his Mommy’s warning, “Remember…this bed is for sleeping, not jumping.” Though he nods in agreement, every time his mom leaves the room, the mischievous tyke pounces. Little by little, tiny feathers escape until one day, a particularly energetic bounce produces a large tear creating an avalanche. “What a lot of feathers fell that day!” A double-spread reveals a panorama of snow-capped buildings with family-filled windows marveling at the snow-filled sky. When his mother notices the deflated bed, she smiles indulgently as the clever child points out that he’s saved her the trouble of emptying the old feathers; she need only replace them next year. Both mother and child wear white pajamas with soft blue snowflakes against a stark white background. The plump, round bed is also light blue with a matching blanket and a little brown stuffed toy dachshund that serves as both pillow and cuddly. The endpapers feature white birds in flight against a pale blue sky. This heartwarming story offers a fanciful explanation of snow while capturing the love and playfulness between a mother and son. VERDICT A simple, sweet choice for a winter toddler storytime, bound to be a bedtime favorite.”

 

Booklist: “... heartwarming tale of human nature.” 

 

Horn Book: Starred Review - “Lin takes readers to the sky once again in this follow-up to Caldecott Honor Book A Big Mooncake for Little Star (rev. 7/18). Whereas a black night sky dominated Mooncake’s palette and a girl among the stars was the mischief-maker, here our protagonist is an impish boy at home amidst the clouds. “When winter began, Little Snow’s mommy made a big new bed just for him.” The bed, in cornflower blue (the illustrations’ main accent color, with warm browns, blacks, and grays), looks a lot like a cloud; and though Mom tells him it’s for sleeping, he gives in to temptation after she departs and jumps gleefully on the “puffy and big and bouncy” thing. As he leaps, feathers flutter down, and eventually he rips the bed. We turn the page to see an apartment complex rooftop covered in snow: “What a lot of feathers fell that day!” Lin’s illustrations are spare but expressive, with copious white space used thoughtfully and deliberately. The boy’s pajamas are outlined by the negative space around the snowflakes that adorn them and not by any paint strokes, for example, giving the child—and the cloud-bed—all the focus. The repeated use of “thump, thump, thump” for the mother’s inevitable return (“Uh-oh!”) brings an exhilarating air of discovery to this already exuberant story, to which boisterous listeners and readers will surely relate. What child doesn’t want to jump on the bed? Playful type placement and varying font size accentuate the joy of the jumping. A wondrous, wintry read.”

 

E. CONNECTIONS
Grace Lin has made many picture books that combine being Chinese or Chinese-American with daily activities in addition to special Chinese cultural events and activities.

Here are more children’s picture books by Grace Lin:

Lin, Grace. A BIG MOONCAKE FOR LITTLE STAR. ISBN 9780316404488.

Lin, Grace. THANKING THE MOON: CELEBRATING THE MID-AUTUMN MOON FESTIVAL. ISBN 9780375861017.  

Lin, Grace. FORTUNE COOKIE FORTUNES. ISBN 9780440421924.

Lin, Grace. THE UGLY VEGETABLES. ISBN 9780881063363.

Lin, Grace. BRINGING IN THE NEW YEAR. ISBN 9780375837456.

Lin, Grace. DIM SUM FOR EVERYONE! ISBN 9780440417705.  

Lin, Grace. KITE FLYING. ISBN 9780553112542.  

Lin, Grace. THE RED THREAD: AN ADOPTION FAIRY TALE. ISBN 9780807569221.