Black Snowman (Blue Ribbon Book)

Product Information

To complete their snowman, they wrap an old cloth around it, and to their surprise, the snowman comes to life.

Actually, the first time I got a chance to read it, I shared reading it to a 37 year old man that I was tutoring. One day, Jacob and his brother make a snowman that is black because the snow had been trampled on by so many people. Soon, Jacob's snowman has come to life-and is about to teach him an unforgettable lesson about history, hope, heritage. He equates being black with being poor and comes to believe that all black things are bad; black magic, black people, black everything! Through the powers of a magical kente, a black snowman comes to life and helps young Jacob discover the beauty of his black heritage as well as his own self-worth.There are other goodreads reviews that summarize the plot, so I will not go into any of those details, but I will describe my rapt audience of 7 and 8 year olds.

I think we have all felt bad about ourselves before but to feel bad for something that is who you are and beyond your control is not fair and not right. The Black Snowman is about a young boy named Jacob Miller who has a problem of appreciating being African American.It would allow students to get onto a personal level with other cultures and to understand the trials that they too can face. When Peewee is trapped inside a burning building, the snowman shows Jacob a way to save his brother while exhorting the boy to believe in himself. Although it may seem a little bit dark for young readers, I think that it touches on an issue that many students in urban schools can relate to. Once we have talked about describing a character I will do a follow up activity to emphasize the strategy students learned in class. The words were easy to read, the illustrations were bold and colorful, they set the mood and dramatized the history when needed.