The Snowman by Raymond Briggs is one of the books on our shelves that I could not wait to share with my son. I clearly remember the magical hold this classic book had over me as a child. The Snowman is a story told without words, that allows children control as the breathtakingly beautiful illustrations take your imagination by the hand and soaring into the sky.
Overnight the snow has fallen and a boy wakes up, dresses as quickly as he can and runs downstairs to go outside. He spends all day making a snowman, complete with hat, scarf and a satsuma nose.
When it is eventually time to go inside the boy can not take his eyes off his snowman and he eventually falls into a restless sleep. In the middle of the night he wakes and creeps downstairs to check on his snowman. When he opens the door to the garden the Snowman comes to life. The boy invites the Snowman into his home and gives him a tour of the house, including the Snowman’s favourites, the fridge and the chest freezer. Burt absolutely loves the illustrations of the boy and the Snowman in the parents’ bedroom, where the Snowman tries on Dad’s trousers, Mums’ hat and Dad’s glasses.
Once the boy has shown the Snowman his world the Snowman leads the boy by the hand into the garden at a run and all of a sudden they are soaring into the sky. They fly over towns, cities and fields. Eventually they land on a boat to look back at the coast then, all too suddenly, it is time to go home. They launch into the night and fly back to the boy’s garden.
You can see from the illustrations that the boy does not want to leave the Snowman and that the Snowman is gently reassuring and encouraging him to go back inside. The book doesn’t need any words as every picture says so much.
The boy reluctantly goes indoors and falls back to sleep. When he wakes he rushes downstairs and out into the garden, but the snowman has melted. All that is left is his hat, scarf and nose. It’s the perfect moment to end the book on as you can reflect on the boy’s feelings at that moment and endlessly imagine what happens next.
The story made such an impression on me that I remember making a snowman in the garden and, just like the boy in the story, I sat by the window all evening waiting for my snowman to magically transform into life. My imagination was captivated and if I am honest, it still is!
Talk about
For me The Snowman is a story of magic, love and loss. In the film adaptation the ending is softened as the boy is left with a momento of his magical night but in the book the end is quite blunt. The Snowman is gone. How you then interpret that ending depends on you. I always choose to look on the story from the perspective that ‘all good things must come to an end’. The snow will fall again, there may be other snowmen and they may never be as wonderful as the Snowman but the boy has the memories and he will never forget. You could choose to think more about the science of melting, or look more at the friendship between the boy and the Snowman. It is the mark of a classic story that you can look at it in many different ways and I know that we will keep coming back to this book over the years and each time we can talk about a different aspect.
Here are some ideas or questions that you might want to use to start a discussion in your family. You know your family and which questions they are ready to tackle now and which can be left for another day:
- What do you think happened to the Snowman?
- How do you think the boy feels at the end of the story?
- How do you feel at the end of the story?
- Have you ever heard the saying ‘all good things must come to an end’? What do you think that means?
- Is it true that all good things have to end?
- If one good things ends do you think that another good thing might come along soon?
- What good things might be coming to the boy?
- What do you think that the boy did next?
- Do you think that the boy will always remember the Snowman?
- Can the boy remember the Snowman and the good times they had even though the Snowman has gone?
Snowman crafts and activities for kids
Due to the lack of actual snow, after we read The Snowman we made our own Snowman out of a milk carton and cotton wool. Have a look at the Pinterest Board full of snowman crafts and activities for kids…
- Read and Create milk carton snowman
- Red Ted Art snow and ice activities
- The Imagination Tree snow and ice play ideas
- Domestic Goddesque snow discovery table
- Red Ted Art snowglobes
- Science Sparks pretend snow
- Here Come the Girls indoor snow
What have you been reading this week?
a beautiful story and your right its a true classic and imagination is everything whilst looking through, really helps children to understand without the use of words x
Cakesphotoslife (Angie) recently posted…Lemon Cupcakes - Baking Mad (review)
It’s such a beautiful book! I really love your ideas for taking it further too. I’ve only read this book to my girl once but she always talks about The Snowman- made a massive impression!
Lucy x
Wonderthrift recently posted…Thrifty Fashion: Eco and Frugal Wedding Rings
Ooh what a lovely linky. We’ve been reading every Julia Donaldson book we could find at the library. Today we’re making Superworm!
jenny recently posted…Finger print Chinese lanterns
I love The Snowman. It’s such a magical story and it has me in tears every time. Now let’s just hope for some snow, so we can have a go at these fab winter activities x
Carolin recently posted…Wednesday Wishlist: My favourite LUSH products
Oh this is one of my favourite books. I love the film too. I’ve got loads of snowman resources ready to upload I just don’t have time to do it at the moment.
Thanks for including my snow activity.
Rebecca recently posted…LeapPad Ultra Review
Aw, it is lovely, I agree. And once again I must thank you for the time you put into listing the prompts and recommended activities - they’re really great.
Emily recently posted…Vegetarian Cottage Pie with a herby cheese crust (recipe)
Thank you. As a teacher lots of parents always used to ask about what questions they could ask when reading with their children and the extended activities are just great fun! I hope it helps some readers to really fall in love with some of the books I am sharing.
Love the snowman - such a great classic!
anna recently posted…Chinese Crafts for Kids - Chinese fans and more.
Such a beautiful book and the illustrations are amazing (did you know the artist went to a local school here!!)
We LOVE the snowman. It was always a film i loved watching when i was younger at my grandmothers house. We watched this on christmas eve and it just makes everything seem more magical x
Keri-Anne recently posted…2/52
I think I’m probably going to be hated for saying this but…here goes…I really don’t like the Snowman! I’m not sure why, it’s just not for me at all and I haven’t got it for my children either. Loving the snowman activities you have linked too though!
Mummy of Two recently posted…New #TheGallery
The Snowman is also one of our favourites but I will admit to the DVD being more popular than the book. We also love snowdog too
Mari recently posted…The Troll - Julia Donaldson and David Roberts
Great story. I love the idea of story and art mixed together too
Jen aka The Mad House recently posted…Update on my word of the year – Nurture
My memory does funny things to me - I can’t remember to buy loo roll in the supermarket, but I do remember being taken to see the Snowman with the music performed by (I think) the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Barbican as a child with Ian Lavender reading the story. I must have been all of 10, if that. I would really recommend listening to the sound track and seeing what children interpret through the music
Jenny from Cheetahs In My Shoes and Just Photos By Me recently posted…Why Vaccinations Are Really Important
It is such an iconic book isn’t it?
But SO sad!!
Liz Burton recently posted…The easiest money-saving trick ever!
We love reading in our house. It is as much part of our daily routine as bath and bedtime. The snowman is a classic!!
Donna recently posted…Are you thinking about summer yet?
I adore this book - like so many people in my age group I feel like I grew up with this book (and Aled Jones before he was a presenter). I adore childrens books, and really wish I was still helping out in the primary classrooms so I could read these gems on a regular basis.
I love how your questions and crafts add another level to the book and get children (and adults) thinking more deeply about books, but still having fun. I don’t think we can love books enough as a generation - you just can’t get this kind of experience with a kindle.
Vicky recently posted…Review: Sally Magpies nail polish store - online shopping at its best
We LOVE reading and recently had Foyles sponsoring our Good Book tuesday – take a peek – The snowman is such a classic and beautiful story. F loves it, we even have a travel size version available which we carry around with us. You might see me back here linking in x
Lori recently posted…GET YOUR CRAFT ON // DIY POTATO PRINT TEE’S
I just love the illustrations, they’re lovely.
Hellie’s Corner recently posted…Made Me Chuckle!!
aww such a classic! x
Fritha Strickland recently posted…02/52
I love the snowman
my son is really into seeing the actual words on the page at the moment (he’s 3) but I’d still really like to try this book with him 
Kate Williams recently posted…Messy eyes and clean kids
oh i love the pictures in the book. so simple.
otilia recently posted…My style my fashion
A truly classic story, one that I think all children must have on their bookcase
Boo Roo and Tigger Too recently posted…Hama Bead Storage (Wednesday Wishlist}
Brilliant I think my reception class would lov this.
Ninja cat recently posted…Chocolate Loaf With Green Tea and Vanilla
I love this idea - it’s a briliant way to encourage a love of books. Something all children should have x x
Cass recently posted…Competition: Win £750 by sharing your favourite Winter recipe…
What a great list of suggested questions! The Snowman’s such a beautiful story - we’ve only recordings of the animation, but I do have a copy of Briggs’ The Bear, which has a similar ending. They’re such beautiful, sad books.
Nell recently posted…Shoeboxes: Our Time of Gifts week 26
I haven’t read this story to be honest, and as a rule I prefer happy endings so I have a bit of a problem with it. That is not to say your post about it isn’t great
It’s just my tiny dislike of sad stories. I cry you see …
I love reading with my boys and talking about it with them later. It is always so fascinating seeing the world through their eyes.
Orli D recently posted…Letting go and letting grow
I’ve always loved this story and used to watch the film every Christmas as a child. I’m enjoying reading the story to my three now - they like it just as much.
That is one of Emmys favourite stories and she loves the film too.
We bought the snowman and the snow dog for Christmas which is just as lovely
Emmys Mummy recently posted…Organising my chaos in bite sized pieces
All time classic, and I just love the way you make a learning plan from your books
Actually Mummy… recently posted…GG’s New Year’s Resolutions
We loved watching this on the tv over Christmas - I’ve never looked at the book before for some reason - must get it, such a classic x
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