Cover Image: The Giving Snowman

The Giving Snowman

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Member Reviews

Such a sweet message of giving and sharing as told through the eyes of a snowman. Children will learn the important message of being generous and selfless. A quick heartwarming read that is appropriate at any time, but especially at Christmas.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

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Julia Zheng’s The Giving Snowman is a heartwarming and easy-to-read picture book. I appreciate the story’s timeless messages about gratitude and kindness. Graziella Miligi’s beautiful and soft art is wonderful to look at!

One winter’s night, a helpful and kind Snowman selflessly helps everyone who comes across his path. But, in the morning, the sun comes out and Snowman begins to melt! However, his friends soon come to his aid and work together to rebuild Snowman.

This is a familiar but still very effective and timeless story. The book is written in simple and kid-friendly prose. The writing is neither trite nor preachy. There is a lot of repetition which works very well because that makes the writing easy-to-read and nicely communicates the book’s themes in an approachable and understandable way.

I really appreciate that the book is heartwarming, positive, and hopeful throughout. Snowman thoughtfully and kindly supports everyone who needs his help by giving them his own things and asking for nothing in return. I also love that Bird, Rabbit, Traveller, and Farmer join together to help Snowman.

Both children and adults can definitely learn from the book’s messages about generosity, kindness, helpfulness, and compassion. These are all important values that we can try to replicate all year round but especially now in the midst of the holiday season. This book will be a great tool to help teach kids about being kind to others and helping out when they can.

I really enjoyed the pretty art which perfectly fits the story! Each page is filled with beautiful and soft watercolour illustrations. The snowy outdoors scenes are perfect and wonderfully appropriate for the holiday season. I especially love the cute animal characters like Rabbit and Bird.



☃️☃️☃️☃️☃️ out of 5 snowmen!

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What a beautiful story!!! We love snowmen in our house so I was excited to get to read this story with my kids. I wasn’t expecting how moving the story would be! Such a great message! The illustrations were so sweet.

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I absolutely love The Giving Snowman by Julia Zheng! The Giving Snowman tells the story of a Snowman who gives away all he has to help others and soon needs help himself. The Giving Snowman is a beautifully written and illustrated book with a powerful message. I loved the message that book sends and is a perfect reminder in any season. This book is perfect for any type of story time. I highly recommend The Giving Snowman by Julia Zheng. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book. My review is also on Goodreads.

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I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

The Giving Snowman is a beautiful children's book with a lovely message. Snowman helps everyone struggling but ends up melting the next day when the sun comes out. The animals and people he helped re-build Snowman and thank him for what he did for them. The message in this book is simple but heartfelt and teaches children about kindness, empathy, giving back and gratitude. In a word full of selfishness and greed we definitely need more books like this for children to teach them such important messages and traits.

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Thank you for a free copy of this book to review. Opinions expressed are mine alone.
What a sweet and heartwarming story. I loved this! It has simple and patterned text, so kids will love predicting the next page and try to read along with you. The plot and storyline are absolutely beautiful and come together so full circle. A snowman who gives what he can to other in need then gets made full again when those characters come together and contribute something of their own to rebuild him. It has a wonderful message of give what you can, when you can, and others will do the same for you. It also shows how different people have and need different things (one man's trash is another man's treasure-type message). Someone might need a coat but can easily give food to someone in need. Very nice story. I would love to incorporate into the classroom.

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The Giving Snowman is a cute story about how giving impacts others and when you give of yourself, others give back to you when you need help. The illustrations are well done and the pacing is good for little kids to understand the meaning of the story.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book for my honest opinion.

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Reminiscent of The Giving Tree and The Mitten, this beautifully illustrated tale is the story of one snowman and all the acts of kindness that he bestows upon the creatures around him when they are in need.

Snowman sees the animals who need his help when the snow is falling. He helps several animals including giving Bird his hat as a nest, Rabbit his nose for food, and the farm boy his arms to have a warm fire. He is generous and giving of himself even to the point of self-sacrifice. Snowman melts in the sun the next day and all the animals and people he helped repay his kind deeds by rebuilding him. This is a valuable lesson in how kindness spreads and grows, how kindness can be repaid, and how we should do things for others in need because we may need a helping hand someday too.

The focus was on kindness which is a critical social emotional conversation children need to have. Children can have a discussion about different ways to be kind to both others and themselves. It also is a great reminder that sometimes it is the most simple gestures that can mean the most to someone and that kindness doesn't have to be hard. It is a great opener for coming up with other ideas to do as a family to show kindness at home, school or in the community.

This story was both entertaining and educational, which can be a tricky balance to maintain in a children’s book, and I will be suggesting it to teachers whenever possible. Incorporating social-emotional skills and topics such as this into children's picture books is a tried and true way to teach an important life skill in a way that is fun. This would be an amazing addition for classroom libraries, counselling offices and more.

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A snowman is so generous with giving away all the parts of him that make him a snowman, he's barely himself any more – and then he dies with the first sun. There – proof that sometimes generosity can be a fault. Or, it would be if the story ended there. This is a world where kindness breeds kindness, where generosity can be paid back easily, and all live happily ever after. It's quite a pretty little read, too, so while no classic is well worth a look.

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Thank you NetGalley and QingHong Zheng for accepting my request to read and review The Giving Snowman.

Author: Julia Zheng
Published: 10/23/21
Genre: Children's Fiction -- Parenting & Families

First, the cover is eye-catching beautiful. I love the simple designs.

Initially I thought what a beautiful coffee/side table book for the holidays. I had the E-book and the graphics were entangled with the words. This made it difficult to enjoy. After the first couple of pages I was able to read the story with little difficulty. However, the pages and graphics didn't straighten out.

The story itself is simple. It did get a little mundane with each passerby. I did appreciate the message and could see how the short book could help parents with sharing and being kind.

I do hope the problems can be fixed. The illustrations are darling. If they are, I would move my rating up.

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The Giving Snowman is perfect for the holiday season. It is a sweet tale about a snowman who gives of himself to help others, who in turn, come together to help him as well. It’s a nice reminder to be kind to others for young children. Also the illustrations were beautiful! I would definitely buy this book for my 3 1/2 year old son.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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The Giving Snowman by Julia Zheng is a great story for children to read. A story about friendship and kindness, something we can all use in our lives. The illustrations are lovely. The characters are lovely and adorable. I love the message this story portrays. Gave me the chance to discuss the idea of being selfless with my littles as we read the story.

Great read for story time, will be reading again and would recommend.

thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Giving Snowman.

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My 4 year old son and I read this book together. He really liked the illustrations. I liked the story that was told and the moral of the story. Be giving and you will receive.

Thank you to NetGalley, Qinghong Zheng and Julia Zheng for allowing us to read this copy in advance of its release.

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*** Thank you to NetGalley early release copy of The Giving Snowman in exchange for an honest review of the book. ***

The giving snowman is a great example to set for children. I read this aloud to my little one and hope that the message came across. The snowman is a great example for children, the idea of being selfless is very important to introduce at an early age. I will be picking this up to add to our holiday book shelf, it's a great one to read around the holiday season to open conversations about giving instead of receiving gifts!

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We (my nephew and I) loved this book. It's very similar to the giving tree, but in my opinion not so sad. J asked me to read it 3 times before I told him to get a different book. Needless to say, we will be reading this one multiple times.

#TheGivingSnowman #NetGalley

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This is a charming book about friendship and kindness. A snowman is approached by a bird, a rabbit, a farmer and a traveller who are in need - soon the snowman gives items to each of one of them . The four characters soon realise they need to help the snowman to show their gratitude. The illustrations are warm and comforting and convey the beauty of the book. The repeated patterns in language are good for young readers and listeners . This is a book for children who still have that awe and wonder in life and is perfect for early years and KS1 classrooms. Highly recommended to parents , teachers and families

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Fun winter story about kindness and compassion. The snowman gave everything he had to those that came by asking for help. When he started melting he was repaid by all those he helped when he himself had nothing to give and was rebuilt.. I can see this becoming a favorite around Christmas time.

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I received a free copy of, The Giving Snowman, by Julia Zheng, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is a nice story about how when we give, we receive so much more in return. I liked the illustrations in this book.

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I read this book with my five year old daughter and she loved it!

We loved the illustrations, they were lovely and really brought the story to life, it was a delightful story that had a wonderful end.

It was really well written and the story had a lovely flow to it and I loved the message of kindness

It is 5 stars from me for this one - a fab Christmas read - very highly recommended!

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The Giving Snowman by Julia Zheng is a beautiful picture book about giving to others, and our interconnectedness with those around us. When Snowman's forest friends find themselves in need of comfort and shelter, Snowman gives what little he has to keep them warm and contented on a cold winter's night. When the weather begins to warm up and Snowman melts away, his friends repay his selfless generosity by returning his gifts and in so doing bring him to life once again.

This is a charming tale that speaks to the value of kindness and caring, and it is sure to become a favourite of children and adults alike.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Qinghong Zheng for an ARC.

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