Cloudy with a chance of The Snowy Day
/
Do I have a random and crazy coincidence to tell you about!
While trying my best (okay, it was a pretty lazy attempt) to achieve something productive on the snow day last week, I was pulling “baby” books off Rosie’s book shelf. As per her request, I might add, which makes me a little sad. I digress. That’s another post for another day. So Anna pulls out the board book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. It was a secondhand copy we’d received somewhere along the way and hadn’t read it in years. Literally, years. And at that, it wasn’t one we’d spent much time with, like some of our favourite, dog-eared, worn torn books. Nonetheless, it was a pretty fitting story for that stormy day. It’s about a young boy enjoying the first snowfall of the season. Anna read it aloud to her sister while I continued my purge (those closest to me are laughing right now. I didn’t purge anything. The “baby” books are now stored under her bed. I can’t bear to part with them yet!). Then I didn’t think anything else of it and we continued on with our day.
THEN…
We’d promised the girls we could watch a movie at some point, being a snow day and all, but we spent way longer playing outside then I’d anticipated. By the time we got supper made, it was getting late. We negotiated “just one” show. Then came the hard part: choosing one everyone was happy with. Nothing satisfying on Netflix. Nothing interesting on Disney Plus (seriously?!). We finally started flipping through the shows on Amazon Prime. There it was. An animated special based on The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. Who knew?! The girls were psyched with this discovery and we put it on right away.
Turns out this version has a Christmas twist (the young boy is on a snowy walk to his Nana’s house on Christmas Eve, to bring home food for a party). Part of me was disappointed we hadn’t discovered it over the holidays (I may have a slight obsession with Christmas shows and movies). It’s the only genre that graced our screens in December, save for bingeing The Morning Show!). Part of me was so happy to be back in Christmas-show mode. It was the sweetest story and I’m adding it to our Christmas show repertoire for sure. Like the book, the art is beautiful. So is the story, with diverse cultures coming together, with a focus on community and family.
Anna kept shouting out, “Yep! They said that in the book! I said that part! Yep, that happened in the book! Nope, this is new! They added this!” It made me think of all the movie adaptations I’ve seen - I rarely like the movie better than the book - but this was done really well. It’s a great adaptation (it even has a song performed by Boyz II Men, so there’s that!) This short came out in 2016 and won two day-time Emmy Awards. Maybe I’ve been under a rock, but I did not know it existed.
Now for the crazy part…
In the New York Times Briefing that landed in my inbox on Monday, they shared this link:
The New York Public Library system has compiled the 10 most checked-out books in its history. No. 1 on the list: “The Snowy Day,” a picture book by Ezra Jack Keats.
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. What are the chances? Why is this book suddenly following me?! They say things come in threes so there you have it. Isn’t that a random and crazy coincidence?
Seven out of ten of the most checked-out books from The New York Public Library System were children’s books. So now tell me…
What are some of your favourite children’s books?
What are some of your favourite movie adaptations, for children’s books or otherwise?
Fun fact: the worst book to movie adaptation I can think of is The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I adored this book, it’s one of my all-time favourites, and the movie is just cringe-worthy. What are some of your worsts?
