Caralyn Buehner's rhyming four-line stanzas put boy and snowman together in a variety of situations that Mark Buehner's bright, oil-over-acrylic paintings realize with mild whimsy. The visual variety (settings include a zoo, the beach, and an amusement park) is effective in helping to camouflage the occasional uninspired rhyme.Ī little boy who loves building snowmen but doesn't so much love seeing them melt imagines a magic snowman who 'could stay with me all year!' They'd fly kites together, ride the roller coaster, watch the Fourth of July fireworks, camp out in the woods, etc. On the chilly heels of Snowmen at Night and Snowmen at Christmas comes this fantasy, courtesy of a boy who imagines an entire year spent playing with a magically unmelting snowman. However that review and several others indicate that this is a favorite of little kids. A good review on Amazon indicates this snowman book's illustrations are less pleasing to adults than the first two in the series. The rhyming text may not win awards for lyric subtlety, but successfully engages children in imagining a yearlong play date with a snowman best friend. The book is designed to appeal to young children and hold their attention through multiple readings. Each lively two-page painting is filled with action and contains two ducks, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a rabbit, a cat and at least one hidden snowman for children to search for. Third in a series of snowmen adventures, Snowmen All Year imagines the shared activities a boy and his snowman would enjoy were this the “magic snow (t)hat will not disappear, (a)nd this snowman be the one (t)o stay with me all year!” The cheery, colorful oil and acrylic illustrations make concrete the non-wintry activities of the boy and snowman, from flying kites to trick or treating. On a stormy evening, the boy and his snowman play chess and on Halloween, they go trick-or-treating and the like for each festive day of the year.Īll in all, Snowmen All Year is a wonderful and imaginative story about a boy and how he would spend time with his snowman year round. The narrative tells a story about a gap-toothed boy's gleefully silly fantasies about playing with his lovable snowman year-round. The premise of the book is rather straightforward.

Mark Buehner's paintings delight in showing off the joyfully absurd situations and rapport between the boy and his friend, never more so than when the snowman does a nosedive into a backyard pool.

With simple rhymes the little boy dreams up situation that he and his snowman would do throughout the year. It is a delightful story about a boy's imagination about playing with his lovable snowman year-round.Ĭaralyn Buehner's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and lyrical. Snowmen All Year is a children's picture book written by Caralyn Buehner and illustrated by Mark Buehner and it is the third book in the Snowmen series.

Snowmen at night by caralyn buehner