Product Description

Stella and her little brother, Sam, are spending the day playing in the snow. Forest, snowballs, snow angels and mysterious white stuff itself provide fuel for Sam's questions and Stella's answers as they discover the world of winter together. Exquisite, evocative watercolours bring a snowy day alive and make this a wonderful winter story. Gently humorous, the book also captures the relationship between an older sister and her little brother - a fun yet sometimes trying responsibility. In this sequel to Stella, Star of the Sea, Stella and Sam explore the wonders of snow with the same magic that brought to their encounter with the sea.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #623695 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From Amazon.com
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 School Library Journal
PreSchool-K-Stella and her little brother, Sam, first introduced in Stella, Star of the Sea (Groundwood, 1999) return in a new adventure as Sam experiences his first snowstorm. As in the prior book, he is timid and plies his exuberant sister with myriad questions about what snowmen eat, how many snowflakes are in a snowball, etc. Stella's answers are an amusing combination of fact and fancy as she gently urges her brother to shed his fears and share her delight in the day. This is a charming story of successful sibling mentoring, simply but effectively told. Gay's line-and-watercolor illustrations flow across double-page spreads and complement both the humor and the message of the tale.
Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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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