Review - The Snow Child: A Russian FolkTale by Freya Littledale (Illustrated by Barbara Lavellee)

An elderly couple's wish comes true when their little girl of snow magically comes to life. Each spring the snow child must leave, but every winter she returns with the first snowfall and comes to life with a kiss.

Let me start off by saying that this was one of my favorite books when I was right around the age of my youngest. It's short and sweet, but The Snow Child by Freya Littledale is also magical and wonderful and just the perfect story for a little girl to jump in to.

I won a gift card to Amazon in a giveaway recently (thank you PUYB Promotions!) and used it to complete a collection of books that I've been trying to complete for some time, buy a couple of movies I've always wanted to watch with my girls, and get them a little something special as well. My oldest got some origami things and my youngest got The Snow Child. It's actually the second time I've gotten it for her, the first copy I gave her disappeared. But that's ok, I love the book so I'm more than happy for her to get a second chance to read it.

It's a Russian folk tale about an older couple who is sad because they've never had any children. One winter day after all the children have gone home they decide to go out and build their own little snow person. They build a little girl and trim her dress in icicles and and give her willow branches covered in frost for hair. She comes to life when the old lady gives her a kiss and spends all winter with them. Spring comes though and she has to leave which makes the old couple sad again. But, much like Frosty the Snow Man, she comes back again the next winter, and every winter after.

It's just a sweet sweet story and it has a happy ending that just makes you smile and kind of warms your heart. I love the illustrations and all the beautiful colors. It's all very whimsical and playful. There really isn't much more that I can say about this little story. Even though it's a cute winter tale, it's still a fun read for little ones (or if you're like me and you've read it long long ago, adults too) no matter what season it is. So if you've got a little girl (or even a little boy) who wants you to read something to them or heck, if they want to read it themselves, I'd recommend this one. It will forever be one of my favorites.