Friday, December 28, 2018

Review - Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman
by Diane Muldrow
illustrated by Josie Yee
Date: 1992
Publisher: Golden Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 24
Format: e-book
Source: library

Everyone's favorite snowman with a magic hat, a button nose, and eyes made out of coal comes to life on Christmas every year. Based on the beloved 1969 television special, this Little Golden Book retells the whole magical story of Frosty the Snowman for boys and girls 2–5!

(see this book on Goodreads)

I'm so glad I'm almost done with December. My plan to read at least one holiday book a day hasn't gone so well. Today's book is one of the reasons why this month has been such a painful one when it comes to reading.

The problem here is that the story is condescending and very, very juvenile. It's aimed at ages 2 to 5? It almost sounds like it was written by a five-year-old in places... like when Santa tells the villain to write "I am very sorry for what I did to Frosty" a hundred bazillion times or he won't get any presents. Way to be specific, Santa. (Also, the villain wanted the magic hat because he thought it would make him rich. He gave up way too easily when threatened by Santa. I'm pretty sure a magic hat would be worth far more than whatever piece of mass-produced crap Santa would leave in his stocking.)

The premise here is pretty flawed, too, and I don't like the way the book scoffs at science (implying that the North Pole's temperatures are always below freezing, or that blowing December wind over a puddle of water will turn it into snow) and shows children doing dangerous things (like jumping into refrigerated box cars and riding the rails).

The story is pretty weak, and the illustrations just seem to mimic the TV special. There's not much here that I can recommend.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 1/5

Enjoyment: 0/5

Overall: 1.17 out of 5

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