Snowball Fight!

August 15, 2005
With simple, exuberant rhyming couplets set to a driving meter, the star of Saturday Night Live
follows a boy (who bears a striking resemblance to a young Jimmy Fallon) on a snow day. The hero bundles up, dashes out ("No time for breakfast,/ already late./ Pretend I don't hear when Mom yells,/ 'Wait!' "), and builds a fort in anticipation of the title event. There's a tense moment when the outcome looks dark ("Out of ammo/ trapped in fort./ Enemy approaching,/ need support"), but the hero's little sister—whom Stower (Two Left Feet
) depicts as not only adoring but also non-pesty—comes through in the nick of time. Fallon's grown-up fans, who might expect a tale punctuated with irony, may be disappointed. This book (inspired by the song "Snowball" on his album, The Bathroom Wall
, according to the jacket flap) is straight-up nostalgia, a paean to a childhood so idyllic that Stower can actually get away with showing kids who wear pots and colanders as snowball-fighting headgear. Any mischievousness falls under the conventional boys-will-be-boys category, such as a parting shot of the hero sneaking to the freezer with "one last snowball future use." Although the compositional focus on many spreads feels diffuse, Stower's watercolors, featuring pug-nosed, wide-eyed kids, exude an old-fashioned winter friskiness. Ages 4-up.

November 1, 2005
PreS-Gr 1 -When school is closed because of a snowstorm, a boy and his sister race outside to play. He builds a fort, and soon a fierce snowball fight with other children ensues. The battle rages until it's time to head home for cocoa. Short rhyming stanzas describe the events. Ranging in size from small insets to double-page paintings, the energetic cartoon-style illustrations capture the action and humor. Sporting colorful outerwear and a silver colander on his head, the protagonist is ready for any adventure. Large print and lots of repetition make this a good choice for beginning readers as well as an engaging read-aloud." -Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.