Mary Had a Little Snowplow

Mary Had a Little Snowplow by Rachel Matson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What I LOVE about this book is that the main character, Mary, is a clever girl who knows how to use tools to build things—in this case a tiny snowplow that follows her like the lamb in the original nursery rhyme. I also love that she is depicted as possibly being Asian, with classmates who have a variety of skin and hair colors. And when the text follows the rhythm of the nursery rhyme, the story rolls delightfully off the tongue. 

However, there are some pages when the rhythm falters, requiring practice and thought to figure out which syllables to emphasize, and one page where I simply cannot figure out where the rhythm went. (“The shovel bravely went SWISH/As the snow turned to muck.” What??  It doesn't fit with the "Mary had a little lamb" pattern.)

Bottom line is there is lots to love but rehearse before reading aloud!

View all my reviews