I like this book because the flow of the book is well organized. The main point of this book seems to teach the Chinese character and to teach how it formed. The story start with the main character on the snow day and his mother teaches him new Chinese characters. As page goes, while it gives easy Chinese characters to learn, the story line fits well. Characters sees things around the forest and the mom teaches the character of it, which will allow reader to remember the character easily. I also liked the illustration of the book. It well described how the chines character if formed by showing how it had come from. Since Chinese character is formed by appearance most of the time, by illustrate the tree that is in shape of Chinese character of tree will allow readers to remember it easily. ( )

I absolutely love this book. This was one of my favorite books as a child and the first book that included Chinese characters into the story that I read as a child. The story, which is very simple, is about a child and his mother who take a walk through the snow and learn different Chinese characters by drawing them into the snow. It is a very good informational book that includes several simple Chinese characters for young children learning a new language. I love how the author uses the characters and compares the way that they are written to how they look in real life. For example for the character 木, which means tree, Xiao Ming, the little boy, exclaims that “it looks just like a tree. I can see its trunk, branches and roots.” This is a very good way for young children to be able to visualize and remember how to write Chinese characters. The book contains charts at the beginning and end of the book depicting all the words used in the story, how they are pronounced phonetically, their definition in English, and pictures of what they represent and how similar they look to the characters. Finally, I really enjoy the art in this book and was able to remember several scenes from this book, although it had been years since I last picked it up. The pictures are very simple and have solid colors. It almost looks like cutouts of colored paper that is glued together to create one picture. The art does not take away from the information being presented and does a good job of supplementing what the writing cannot. Without the pictures, it would be very hard to visualize how the characters can be translated into real life objects. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book for a few reasons. I like that Mandarin Chinese symbols were incorporated throughout the book. In the front of the book there is a key which identifies each symbols, translates it to English, and shows how to properly pronounce it. I also liked that the illustrations have a boarder around them that correlates to what is happening on the page. In addition, I liked that the pictures are textured because it gives them a 3D effect. The main idea of this story is the joys of learning new things and making connections. The main character Xiao Ming learns new Chinese characters from his mother. He remembers each one by making connections to the symbols and the real objects they represent. For example the symbol for tree looks similar to an actual tree. He has a new day expanding his knowledge and learning new things. ( )

A young boy learns about his culture from his mother who also teaches him chinese characters. ( )

In my opinion, the book "In the Snow" is an excellent book for young readers. The first thing I liked about this book was the multicultural aspect. Many young students may not have been exposed to things like Chinese character writing and it is definitely an interesting topic to learn about. The book also explains the Chinese characters in a way that is easy to remember and understand. For example, one page shows the Chinese symbol for "tree" which can also mean "wood." The text reads, "'This is the character for tree,' she says, 'It looks just like a tree. I can see it's trunk, branches and roots,' exclaims Xiao Ming." From looking at the picture, a reader might be able to remember the symbol since the explanation puts the symbol into perspective, which can help the reader learn something new. Another thing I liked about this book was the illustrations. They are very simple and seem to be done in a collage type format with very strong lines and simple landscapes. There is also a border around each page which I find appealing. One page, for example, has a rounded red border with white snowflakes. The more complex borders help you appreciate the simplicity of the illustrations inside the border and help you to focus on the text as well. An additional feature I liked about this book was the fact that it had a page with different symbols on it as well as their meaning. This page has four columns. The first has a graphic of what the symbol represents, like one of the sun. The second column has the Chinese symbol, the third column has the word in English ("sun") and the fourth has the meaning of the symbol in Chinese; in the suns case, "ri (rur, pronounced with rounded lips)." Readers can also find this page helpful if they are interested in learning more about the language and extending their knowledge outside of the actual story. The big idea of this story was so expose children to the Chinese culture and teach about different Chinese symbols and their meanings. ( )