A Very Special Snowflake - Book Review and Giveaway

"Soft snowflakes whirled all around them. They were as white and fluffy as the puppy's fur." - A Very Special Snowflake by Don Hoffman

March came in like a lamb around here today. No major snowstorms, ice, sleet or rain. That’s too bad. Now I’m not looking forward to the end of March. I would have enjoyed watching a few flakes fly today because I’m reviewing a picture book called A Very Special Snowflake by Don Hoffman.

Jeff and Veronica and their new puppy named Snowflake venture outside to play during a snowstorm. Snowflake the puppy jumps into a snowbank and goes missing. Jeff and Veronica search everywhere in their neighborhood, asking everyone they encounter if they’ve seen Snowflake. No one understands that the children are inquiring after their puppy named Snowflake, not the falling snow.

The story, A Very Special Snowflake, revolves around the theme of communication or rather miscommunication. It is a cute example about the importance of clearly phrasing questions to avoid misunderstandings. The book also features characters of each gender working in slightly nontraditional roles: a male florist, male baker, female police officer, female mail carrier, and an older woman shoveling. The snow-filled illustrations by Todd Dakins put the reader right in the midst of the snowstorm and action. A resident of Wisconsin, Dakins knows how to illustrate snow and understands the fun of catching snowflakes on your tongue! My daughter enjoyed trying to locate Snowflake the puppy, who is hidden in many of the colorful illustrations.

A Very Special Snowflake, by Don Hoffman, illustrated by Todd Dakins. Scholastic / Cartwheel Books (November 2008); 32 pages; ISBN 9780439901116

Related links:
Don Hoffman Author Website
Scholastic Link for A Very Special Snowflake
Winter Fun Scholastic.com Lesson Plans and Activities


Thanks to KSB Promotions, I'm giving away (1) copy of A Very Special Snowflake to a Brimful Curiosities reader.

To enter, visit Author Don Hoffman's Website and leave a comment here telling me the name another book featured on the website that interests you.

• For contact purposes, if you are a non-blogger or your email is not accessible in your blog profile, please leave a valid email address within the comment section.
• Contest is open to US only
• Contest ends on Monday, March 9th, 2008 at 11:59 PM CST.
• Winner will be chosen at random

Three ways to gain extra entries (Maximum total entries is 4):
1st extra entry: Follow Me! or subscribe by email or RSS reader
2nd extra entry: Blog about this contest then post your link in the comment section.
3rd extra entry: Follow me on twitter (iambrimful) and tweet about the contest.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to Brimful Curiosities, where every week is a children's book carnival! This review/giveaway is one of my contributions to the Book Giveaway Carnival, (March 2-8, 2009). Head over there for all the great giveaways this week! And don't forget to enter my other giveaways!

----------------------------------------------------------------