SLJ gives a starred review to I’M GOING TO BUILD A SNOWMAN by Jashar Awan

A young boy wakes up on a snowy morning, excited to get outside to build the “best snowman ever!” He knows it will take three perfectly round snowballs, one on top of the other, plus a top hat, a carrot nose, and sticks for arms. He imagines his snowman coming to life, and in an homage to Raymond Briggs’s beloved picture book The Snowman, the boy and the snowman even take off on a magical flight above the trees. Of course there’s perfection, and then there’s reality, and the boy’s snowman isn’t quite the creation he had imagined. No matter; he adds one last detail, a smile, and is happy with the result. Large readable text is limited to a few words per page, making the vibrantly colored digital illustrations effectively carry the story line forward. Kids will delight in fun onomatopoeia such as “pullll, pushhh, ziiiip, fwump” as the boy gets dressed, and “sssslump” as the snowman starts to tilt over. The boy is depicted with light brown skin. VERDICT Speaking of classics, why not bring in Ezra Jack Keats’s The Snowy Day, too, and have a joyful story hour to remind kids that efforts, not results, count, and snow is a glorious break from everything. – Sue Morgan