Episode 37 - Frosty Frolicks (The Glowing Snowman and A Night at the Frost Fair)

Our stories this month are frosty and icy! Our picture book is The Glowing Snowman by Helen Goodbarton and Sophie Johnson-Hill. A snowman feels lonely and not special, until he accidentally swallows a firefly and becomes rather bright and interesting. But should he keep the firefly captive in his tummy? Or let it go? It's a great collaboration featuring drawings by lots of different children.

 

For our chapter book, we've got rather a short, bite-sized time travel story: A Night at the Frost Fair, by Emma Carroll and illustrated by Sam Usher. Sitting in the back of a taxi, feeling grumpy and kind of sad, Maya slips back in time to 1788: the Thames has frozen over and the Frost Fair is being held. A small boy named Eddie grabs her arm and they're off for a day of adventure on the ice.

 

In this episode we mention a few other books we've covered:

 

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, in our episode about Shooting Stars

The Year I Didn't Go to School by Giselle Potter, in We Don't Need No Education

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, in our episode all about retellings of it

 

Sojo and Mouse, the publishers of The Glowing Snowman, are selling a special 3 book bundle for £15 at the moment!

 

Nina also mentions The Snowmama by Jeanette Winterson, which you can read here.

 

Matt mentions the Whitley Bay shuggy boats, pictured here in the 1920s!

 

Doctor Who also had an episode set at the frost fair, see a clip here

 

And here's a video from the CQL about the concept of dignity of risk.

 

What A Wonderful Day is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Shane Ivers of silvermansound.com