[snowy review] On a Flake-Flying Day by Buffy Silverman

~ jama

Brrrrrr! Can you feel it? Yes, the winds of change are blowing once again. Did a snowflake just tickle the tip of your nose?

With Winter Solstice coming up next week, it’s time to fluff our feathers, cozy up with a warm cuppa, and enjoy Buffy Silverman’s latest picture book, On a Flake-Flying Day: Watching Winter’s Wonders (Millbrook Press, 2023).

In this third title of her award winning series celebrating the seasons, we see how animals adapt to the cold and learn about weather conditions related to wind and water. When the world is blanketed in snow, many fascinating things are happening above and below ground.

Once again, Buffy invites readers to join her for a fun nature walk via an inventive rhyming text and gorgeous color photographs. It’s always a joy to read aloud her sprightly hyphenated noun-verb adjectives, a perfect set up for evocative pairs of short rhyming sentences powered by choice verbs:

On a feather-fluffing,
seed-stuffing,
cloud-puffing day . . . 

Weasel whitens.
Cardinal brightens.

Frost glistens.
Owl listens.

Leaves rustle.
Squirrels hustle.

Her verse brims with deliciously informative sensory detail. The weasel is an example of an animal camouflaging itself for protection, while the cardinal’s bright red does the opposite — makes the male stand out to better its chances of finding a mate. Along with glistening frost, a majestic owl listening for underground prey, rustic leaves clinging to their branches, and a pinecone-nibbling squirrel, what a fabulous feast for the eyes!

Inspired by Buffy’s own all-weather wanderings, this book features wildlife common to fields, forests, and wetlands in the northeastern and midwestern United States. Kids will love reading about bug-snuggling ladybugs, snoozing frogs, and cruising mice. The pictures are so vivid that one can practically hear the herons splashing, wolves howling, and woodpeckers tapping. Ice cracking, snow whirling and voles chomping? We’re right there.

On an ice-cracking,
bear napping,
beak-tapping day . . . 

Snow slides.
Grouse strides.

Moose lumbers.
Skunk slumbers.

Winds strengthen.
Shadows lengthen.

When winter comes, how do coyotes and wolves hunt for food? What about a mighty moose? If the leaves, twigs, bark and roots he normally eats in warm weather are buried under snow, how does he conserve his energy to compensate?

By book’s end, young readers will be ready to don their puffer jackets, snow pants, gloves and boots — just like the kids pictured — before racing outside to build a snow fort and explore winter’s wonders for themselves.

On a Flake-Flying Day will arouse their curiosity about what their busy animal friends are up to and enhance their appreciation for the sheer beauty of nature, as they peruse the intricate patterns of frost and flake, the textures of bark, needles, grasses and fur, the radiant colors of plumage, berries, and sky.

Back matter includes suggestions for further reading, a glossary, and notes for each of the 24 two-word sentences in the book. Loved learning that the ruffed grouse actually grows spines on its toes that act like snowshoes, that honeybees cluster and vibrate their wings to keep their hives warm, and that snow geese flock together by the thousands, roosting on lakes and wetlands at night.

All this makes for a captivating, visually stunning book — especially appealing for those who like the combination of poetry + science. Come winter, it’s good to know that upon her vast white stage, Mother Nature’s putting on an incredible show.

*

ON A FLAKE-FLYING DAY: Watching Winter’s Wonders
written by Buffy Silverman
published by Millbrook Press/Lerner, October 2023
Nonfiction Poetry Picture Book for ages 4-9, 32 pp.

Amazon
Bookshop

♥️ More Reviews: Marcie Flinchum Atkins, Mary Lee Hahn, Sue Heavenrich.

♥️ Interview with Buffy at Picture Book Builders.

♥️ See my reviews of the first two books in this series: On a Gold-Blooming Day: Finding Fall Treasures, and On a Snow-Melting Day: Seeking Signs of Spring.

*

Lovely and talented Janice Scully is hosting the Roundup at Salt City Verse. Meander on over there and check out the full menu of poetic goodness being served up around the blogosphere this week. Bundle up and have a delicious weekend!!

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🎁 Note: This will be my last Poetry Friday post for 2023. All are invited to join us here for a Paddington Christmas Tea + a review of Paddington’s Christmas Post on Tuesday, December 19. If I don’t see you then, have a very Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year!! Thank you for being the best blog readers ever. 🙂

*Interior spreads posted by permission, text copyright © 2024 Buffy Silverman, published by Millbrook Press/Lerner Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

**Copyright © 2023 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

21 thoughts on “[snowy review] On a Flake-Flying Day by Buffy Silverman”

  1. Pingback: chronological book review archive (2008-2023) | Jama's Alphabet Soup

  3. Wishing you the merriest of Christmases and the beginning of 2024, Jama. Buffy’s books are fabulous, so thanks for the extra peek at this latest one, just in time for the solstice. The wordplay and photos make me want to bundle up and get out there on the next “flake-flying day”! Enjoy all the days of your own winter break! (All the schools in Denver are out today! Kids rejoice; parents, not so much.)

    Liked by 2 people

  4. This line is exactly what I think when I think of Buffy and her books: “Her verse brims with deliciously informative sensory detail.” Because snow is so seldom an occurrence where I live, every “flake-flying day” we do get is pretty much like living inside this book! So much wonder and delight…lovely. Merry merry to you and Paddington, Jama! Thanks for all you give. xo

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  5. Another stellar review of Buffy’s ‘cool’ book. She really makes the most of winter!
    Wishing you the happiest of holidays, Jama! ❤

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  6. A thoughtful and insightful review, Jama! Buffy’s word choice is always so clever and fun. She is somehow able to educate the reader without the reader noticing because we get caught up in her lyrical language. Thank you for the peek into “On a Flake Flying Day!”

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  8. Lovely review of Buffy’s book Jama, as Buffy’s lively poems and wonderful pics place us there your post also places us right in ❄️ Winters’s midst and the critters habitats! Sounds like a marvelous read, thanks for sharing it!
    Sending wishes for a very Merry Christmas 🎄 & Joy 🌟 & Hope 💙in the New Year!

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  9. Wonderful review, Jama! Buffy’s books are incredible feats of word play. Your review not only makes me want to hug the book but also go out and enjoy the chilly weather. Have a wonderful Christmas and see you in the new year!

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  13. Thank you for the delightful review, Jama–seeing this made my day! I so appreciate the FLAKE-FLYING love. Wishing you a happy blog break and holidays.
    And thanks to all your blog visitors for their kind comments!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Thank you, Jama, for showcasing Buffy’s book that reminds me I have a few books to review before the year is up. Buffy has a keen eye for photography and a marvelous way of writing these natur ebooks. Thanks for sharing the sensory details and the magic of a Buffy’s word choice verbs. Happy Holidays!

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  17. I absolutely love this book, because I love winter! People look at me like I’ve lost my mind when I say that! I have two stray kitties that I feed. They have a little house in my urban yard, and there is nothing cuter than seeing the two of them snuggle together keeping warm. All I see is their cute furry bottoms peeking out of each opening. They know how to keep warm. On another note, I have a recommendation for all my Italian American friends about a picture book I spied in a Brooklyn bookstore. It’s called Our Italian Christmas Eve by Danielle and Francesco Sedita. It’s perfect reading for the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Happy holidays to you, Jama and all my fellow readers!🎄🎄

    Liked by 2 people

    1. So heartwarming to hear about your stray kittens, Joanne. And thanks for mentioning Our Italian Christmas Eve. I’ll have to look for it. 🙂

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