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The Biggest, Best Snowman
A heartwarming seasonal story with an uplifting message about friendship and having confidence in yourself.
Paperback book and CD
Little Nell's family thinks she's too small to really accomplish anything. But one snowy winter day, while Nell is playing with her forest friends Reindeer, Hare, and Bear Cub, her friends encourage her to build a snowman. Though Nell is unsure of herself at first, with the support and help of her friends, she creates a marvelous snowman. Nell's wondrous creation shows everyone that she IS capable of accomplishing anything she puts her mind to--and that great things often come in "little" packages!
A powerful lesson about self-confidence and a cozy winter treat in one.
Paperback book and CD
Little Nell's family thinks she's too small to really accomplish anything. But one snowy winter day, while Nell is playing with her forest friends Reindeer, Hare, and Bear Cub, her friends encourage her to build a snowman. Though Nell is unsure of herself at first, with the support and help of her friends, she creates a marvelous snowman. Nell's wondrous creation shows everyone that she IS capable of accomplishing anything she puts her mind to--and that great things often come in "little" packages!
A powerful lesson about self-confidence and a cozy winter treat in one.
40 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Margery Cuyler
60 books39 followersMargery Cuyler is the author of many books for children, including From Here to There, The Little Dump Truck, and That’s Good! That’s Bad! The idea for That’s Good! That’s Bad! was inspired by a conversation with her son, Thomas, who asked, "Can't bad things change into good things?" Ms. Cuyler grew up in the oldest house in Princeton, NJ, and started writing stories as soon as she learned how to write. She now lives in the same house with her husband, sons and two cats.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/marger...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/marger...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
March 2, 2019
Little Nell is tired of being the smallest member of her household, so she enlists her animal friends to help her build a gigantic snowman. That's pretty much the entire tale, a story which is greatly enhanced by Will Hillenbrand's lovely artwork.
February 25, 2020
rating: 3.5
I like the attitude: "Yes, you can!" And she does. I also like that Little Nell plays outdoors, and she plays by herself.
I like that chunks of bark were used for the snowman's eyes. It would have been better if forest materials had been used for the nose and the mouth (not an old sock and raisins).
This is a winter story, but the art further defines it as being the Christmas season.
I like the attitude: "Yes, you can!" And she does. I also like that Little Nell plays outdoors, and she plays by herself.
I like that chunks of bark were used for the snowman's eyes. It would have been better if forest materials had been used for the nose and the mouth (not an old sock and raisins).
This is a winter story, but the art further defines it as being the Christmas season.
January 24, 2013
Mommy's review from 1/12/12 -
2.5 - I got a huge kick out of something I only saw one other reviewer mention. Part of the story has a few different animals rolling the snowballs to make the snowman's body. The track the snowballs leave spells out 'snowman' although the letters are on different pages.
What I find so funny is that I'm so unobservant I didn't even notice and Julia knew the tracks were spelling something. (She needed a little help putting them together but once she got that little bit of help she sounded it out herself.) That was a really cute addition to the story IMO.
I have to be honest though, I really wasn't feeling the family. What's with the weirdness? Those two older sisters are the definition of weird. The Mom isn't much better letting the older two act like they do.
And the one that looks like a pig (and acted like one also) almost turned my stomach. Even at the end she had an attitude. The last shot of her (the ones before it are no better) is of her looking skyward with a candy cane stuck in her mouth like a cigarette, double chin just a-flapping. The other older sister, little girl and Mom are hugging but the fat pig-girl is off to the side. Huh?
Oh, I just noticed the very next page has the same characters a little smaller, with the three celebrating and pig-girl still sulking. Ick.
If there was a reason for this I missed it. I kind of thought, because of how the beginning of the story went, that there would be a lesson learned for the rest of the family, especially after what the little girl (and her woodland friends) accomplish.
Apparently the chunky one didn't learn it.
I can't say I recommend it because that one really made me almost sick to my stomach. If I could pinpoint a reason for her being there - and being that way - I could deal but I can't.
Besides this it's a good story for sure. It's a shame that took away from it for me. Julia didn't mind much except to say a few choice words about the one disgusting one. It could have been a lot better with some minor adjustments IMO.
2.5 - I got a huge kick out of something I only saw one other reviewer mention. Part of the story has a few different animals rolling the snowballs to make the snowman's body. The track the snowballs leave spells out 'snowman' although the letters are on different pages.
What I find so funny is that I'm so unobservant I didn't even notice and Julia knew the tracks were spelling something. (She needed a little help putting them together but once she got that little bit of help she sounded it out herself.) That was a really cute addition to the story IMO.
I have to be honest though, I really wasn't feeling the family. What's with the weirdness? Those two older sisters are the definition of weird. The Mom isn't much better letting the older two act like they do.
And the one that looks like a pig (and acted like one also) almost turned my stomach. Even at the end she had an attitude. The last shot of her (the ones before it are no better) is of her looking skyward with a candy cane stuck in her mouth like a cigarette, double chin just a-flapping. The other older sister, little girl and Mom are hugging but the fat pig-girl is off to the side. Huh?
Oh, I just noticed the very next page has the same characters a little smaller, with the three celebrating and pig-girl still sulking. Ick.
If there was a reason for this I missed it. I kind of thought, because of how the beginning of the story went, that there would be a lesson learned for the rest of the family, especially after what the little girl (and her woodland friends) accomplish.
Apparently the chunky one didn't learn it.
I can't say I recommend it because that one really made me almost sick to my stomach. If I could pinpoint a reason for her being there - and being that way - I could deal but I can't.
Besides this it's a good story for sure. It's a shame that took away from it for me. Julia didn't mind much except to say a few choice words about the one disgusting one. It could have been a lot better with some minor adjustments IMO.
October 27, 2023
I like this book. I don't like that her family treated her this way because she was so little. I like that her forest friends helped her build a huge snowman and that she got a little more respect from her family at the end of the book. I thought it was cool that the illustrator chose to have them roll the balls so the snow read snowman. I would use this read aloud during the winter or when someone is told that they are too little.
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/bo...
Interest Level
Grades PreK - 3
Reading Level
Grade level Equivalent: 2.8
Lexile® Measure: 480L
DRA: 20
Guided Reading: L
Theme/Subject
Cooperation and Teamwork
Winter Activities and Recreation
Winter Themes
Friends and Friendship
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/bo...
Interest Level
Grades PreK - 3
Reading Level
Grade level Equivalent: 2.8
Lexile® Measure: 480L
DRA: 20
Guided Reading: L
Theme/Subject
Cooperation and Teamwork
Winter Activities and Recreation
Winter Themes
Friends and Friendship
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2018
Too much repeat of "Biggest" and felt too repetitive to be interesting, and the Yes I can and No I am not, etc moments were a smidge confusing, though I like the idea of the moral behind it all. Read to 4 year old niece.
January 22, 2019
I was going to save this to read later in January, around my birthday, because it looked really cute, and then I happened to notice, either by the illustrations, or by rereading the synopsis online, that this was about the same character from The Bumpy Little Pumpkin. If I had known this was from the same series, I wouldn’t have read it, because I didn’t like that book.
I just don’t get the emphasis on size in this book. BIG Mama--I can’t with that nickname--BIG Sarah, BIG Lizzie, BIG house, BIG woods. They have BIG blustery voices, BIG talky friends, BIG loud parties. Then there’s the BIG snowy woods.
Repetition aside, the capitalized words just ruin the flow of reading. You have to stop each time and put emphasis on it, and it just breaks the flow.
I don't think kids would know what blustery means anyway.
The repetition is probably the worst thing about the book. I don’t like repetition; I find it annoying, which means I don’t enjoy the writing in these books.
As if repetition of the word big wasn’t enough, we now have the repetition of “No, you can’t. You’re too small.” “Yes, I can, and no, I’m not.” “No, you can’t, and yes, you are.”
Is she only small because she’s young? Will she always be small? And if so, then they were once probably small, too. Will she get their size when she’s older? And boy, that’s a sad thought, to think she’ll end up BIG and obnoxious like her relatives. And where is the dad? Do they get their big size from their mom?
There’s more repetition with them making the snowman: ‘She carefully patted and matted and batted the snow.’
‘She rolled it and rolled it and rolled it.’
‘Reindeer nudged it and nudged it and nudged it.’
‘Hare kicked it and kicked it and kicked it.’
‘Bear Cub rolled it and rolled it and rolled it.'
When they decorate the snowman, she calls her bird friends and they come back with a random pink sock for the nose. Where do you just find a sock at in the snow? And how would a sock stay stuck to the snow like that? There are other, better choices to use for a nose.
They use raisins for the mouth. Again, where do you find raisins?
When she tells them she built a snowman, of course she has to show them to prove it, because they don't believe her. She has to prove herself for them to give her any credit.
I guess she should bow down that they're giving her their favor, with the mom saying it's the biggest, best snowman that ever was.
They ask her to help with lunch, I guess their version of a reward. Lizzie says "No she can't. She's still too small." Nell says "Yes, I can, and no I'm not!" Big Mama replies "Yes, you can, and yes, you WILL!"
Sends the book off on an irritating note of more stupid repetition, and more capitalized words.
It ends with BIG Mama giving her a smooch, BIG Sarah giving her a hug, ooch(??), and Lizzie sticking her big nose in the air(although her chin and mouth is much bigger than her nose), making a hmmph noise.
It randomly ends with her on top of the snowman. I thought she was going inside to cook?
As soon as I found out this story was with the same characters, and followed the same story line, just with a snowman instead of a pumpkin, I was thinking if her family hadn’t learned their lessons and learned to appreciate her when she decorated the pumpkin, then why would they with a snowman? Seems like they should have learned their lesson the first time. And it’s just crappy of her mom to treat her the same way her sisters do.
I just don’t understand the point of the story. If no one’s learning a lesson--at least that one sister--then what’s the point of the story? There's no lessons learned, even more so, because the family should have already seen her worth with the first book.
The illustrations make the whole thing worse. They’re not pretty. In fact, they’re downright ugly. They bring these BIG characters to unflattering detail. I don’t know why it looks like its set in the 80's, with crazy hairstyles, bold makeup, and hair scrunchies.
Also, unlike the Pumpkin story, the illustrations weren’t even cute of the animals. They’re supposed to be baby animals, but they look like adults. The bear is called Bear Bug, yet his nose is elongated and pointed, like an older bear, and isn’t round like a cub’s would be.
I don’t remember her family being quite so disturbing to look at. The sister was just plain ugly lying back on the sled with a candy cane stuck out of her mouth. And then standing at the end, looking like a slug, with her arms crossed, and that ridiculous hat on. On the last page, she’s turned away while her family is hugging, all attitude, with that stupid candy cane still stuck out of her mouth. I just can’t with her.
I don't like the writing, the characters, the repetition, really anything about this. Just not my cup of tea.
I just don’t get the emphasis on size in this book. BIG Mama--I can’t with that nickname--BIG Sarah, BIG Lizzie, BIG house, BIG woods. They have BIG blustery voices, BIG talky friends, BIG loud parties. Then there’s the BIG snowy woods.
Repetition aside, the capitalized words just ruin the flow of reading. You have to stop each time and put emphasis on it, and it just breaks the flow.
I don't think kids would know what blustery means anyway.
The repetition is probably the worst thing about the book. I don’t like repetition; I find it annoying, which means I don’t enjoy the writing in these books.
As if repetition of the word big wasn’t enough, we now have the repetition of “No, you can’t. You’re too small.” “Yes, I can, and no, I’m not.” “No, you can’t, and yes, you are.”
Is she only small because she’s young? Will she always be small? And if so, then they were once probably small, too. Will she get their size when she’s older? And boy, that’s a sad thought, to think she’ll end up BIG and obnoxious like her relatives. And where is the dad? Do they get their big size from their mom?
There’s more repetition with them making the snowman: ‘She carefully patted and matted and batted the snow.’
‘She rolled it and rolled it and rolled it.’
‘Reindeer nudged it and nudged it and nudged it.’
‘Hare kicked it and kicked it and kicked it.’
‘Bear Cub rolled it and rolled it and rolled it.'
When they decorate the snowman, she calls her bird friends and they come back with a random pink sock for the nose. Where do you just find a sock at in the snow? And how would a sock stay stuck to the snow like that? There are other, better choices to use for a nose.
They use raisins for the mouth. Again, where do you find raisins?
When she tells them she built a snowman, of course she has to show them to prove it, because they don't believe her. She has to prove herself for them to give her any credit.
I guess she should bow down that they're giving her their favor, with the mom saying it's the biggest, best snowman that ever was.
They ask her to help with lunch, I guess their version of a reward. Lizzie says "No she can't. She's still too small." Nell says "Yes, I can, and no I'm not!" Big Mama replies "Yes, you can, and yes, you WILL!"
Sends the book off on an irritating note of more stupid repetition, and more capitalized words.
It ends with BIG Mama giving her a smooch, BIG Sarah giving her a hug, ooch(??), and Lizzie sticking her big nose in the air(although her chin and mouth is much bigger than her nose), making a hmmph noise.
It randomly ends with her on top of the snowman. I thought she was going inside to cook?
As soon as I found out this story was with the same characters, and followed the same story line, just with a snowman instead of a pumpkin, I was thinking if her family hadn’t learned their lessons and learned to appreciate her when she decorated the pumpkin, then why would they with a snowman? Seems like they should have learned their lesson the first time. And it’s just crappy of her mom to treat her the same way her sisters do.
I just don’t understand the point of the story. If no one’s learning a lesson--at least that one sister--then what’s the point of the story? There's no lessons learned, even more so, because the family should have already seen her worth with the first book.
The illustrations make the whole thing worse. They’re not pretty. In fact, they’re downright ugly. They bring these BIG characters to unflattering detail. I don’t know why it looks like its set in the 80's, with crazy hairstyles, bold makeup, and hair scrunchies.
Also, unlike the Pumpkin story, the illustrations weren’t even cute of the animals. They’re supposed to be baby animals, but they look like adults. The bear is called Bear Bug, yet his nose is elongated and pointed, like an older bear, and isn’t round like a cub’s would be.
I don’t remember her family being quite so disturbing to look at. The sister was just plain ugly lying back on the sled with a candy cane stuck out of her mouth. And then standing at the end, looking like a slug, with her arms crossed, and that ridiculous hat on. On the last page, she’s turned away while her family is hugging, all attitude, with that stupid candy cane still stuck out of her mouth. I just can’t with her.
I don't like the writing, the characters, the repetition, really anything about this. Just not my cup of tea.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2017
This book is about a small girl whose family always says she is too small to help with anything. She goes out to the snowy woods because her family will not help her and she meet up with the forest animals, they tell her she should build a snowman. She says she is too small and cannot do it, the forest animals tell her to try. Together, they build a huge snowman. She is so proud of her snowman that she gets her family, once her family sees how good she did on her snowman they ask her to help cook dinner.
I enjoyed this book a lot. The illustrations were really pretty and it was a good story. It teaches that you are not too small to do anything which is a good lesson for young children.
This book would be good to read during the winter time since it takes place in the snow. It could inspire children to build snowmen and also help them feel needed even though they are small.
I enjoyed this book a lot. The illustrations were really pretty and it was a good story. It teaches that you are not too small to do anything which is a good lesson for young children.
This book would be good to read during the winter time since it takes place in the snow. It could inspire children to build snowmen and also help them feel needed even though they are small.
June 10, 2020
Children's literature picture book
K-1
Using a winter theme, Cuyler addresses a problem so many children face--being told you're not big enough to do something. Yet as the animal friends of the little girl in the story challenge her, you don't know if you don't try. Great lesson to be learned and encouraged by reading this book with children. They also find out that, maybe you can't do something hard yourself, but friends are there to help you. Many repeated words and phrases to make this good for early readers.
K-1
Using a winter theme, Cuyler addresses a problem so many children face--being told you're not big enough to do something. Yet as the animal friends of the little girl in the story challenge her, you don't know if you don't try. Great lesson to be learned and encouraged by reading this book with children. They also find out that, maybe you can't do something hard yourself, but friends are there to help you. Many repeated words and phrases to make this good for early readers.
January 9, 2024
This is the delightful story of Little Nell who often feels left out by her BIG family who think she’s too small to help out. But with the help of her friends, Reindeer, Hare, and Bear Cub as well as a few helpful birds, they help her achieve something truly BIG and gain confidence in herself and the things she can do.
I have loved this story since I was kid. It envelopes the reader in the beautiful wintery illustrations, and imparts a message that rings especially true for children that no matter who you are, you can accomplish BiG things.
I have loved this story since I was kid. It envelopes the reader in the beautiful wintery illustrations, and imparts a message that rings especially true for children that no matter who you are, you can accomplish BiG things.
August 3, 2024
I enjoyed reading this story about a girl who is made fun of in her family for being too little. Kids can learn a good message- your size does not matter; if you set your mind to something, you can do it. Little Nell's determination (and help from her animal friends) allows her to build a BIG snowman. Little Nell's two sisters reminded me of Cinderella with the two wicked stepsisters. I'm glad Nell proved them wrong!
April 30, 2020
This book is about a little girl who is insecure because of her size. All of her family members are big and they always say she is too small to do things so she thought that she was. Her friends in the woods helped her with her insecurity by building a snowman with her. It is important to believe in yourself and not what others think of you which is a perfect portrayal in this story.
May 25, 2020
Although Little Nell is kinda bullied by her family, she gains their respect when she accomplishes something on her own that surprises them. This would be a good mentor text for author's voice, or the use of a repeating word for emphasis. Young students can relate to always being told they are too small to do things. This book will encourage them!
December 5, 2020
This book has a good message for kids, about never being too "small" to try something new. The illustrations flow together nicely across the pages, giving the reader and audience lots of visuals to go off of. The repetition of similar but slightly different words could help kids learn specific word sounds.
April 23, 2023
I like the idea that we can often do more than others give us credit for, and sometimes it's our friends who help us see our potential. I don't love that it's woodland creatures that help, because that gives the impression that only something supernatural could help, but the basic idea is still there.
December 1, 2023
When the littlest family member creates the biggest, best snowman, she learns that anything is possible...at any size! Beautiful illustrations, in watercolor if I had to guess, with a hidden surprise among the rolling snowballs that took us years of reading this book to finally notice! An annual family favorite.
December 26, 2018
The littlest girl in the family makes a GIANT snowman with the help of some friends. I like how the story repeats certain sections (each animals repeating their routine of rolling, nudging, kicking the snowball, etc).
January 15, 2020
A cute story about a little girl who was told she was too little to do anything. So she sets out to prove her family wrong by building the biggest and best snowman ever with her wild animal friends. Great for uppity girls!
December 17, 2020
This is a great book for self-esteem. We may be too little of something, but with the help of our friends and family, we have just enough of ourselves to make something big and beautiful. Team work makes the dream work and this fun tale illustrates that lesson for children ages 3-5.
February 1, 2022
We liked how the little girl made friends with the animals and they worked together to build a snowman. We loved the letters on the page that built a word. We did not at all like the family. Even my kiddos were like what's the deal...!
June 13, 2017
cute book to show children that you are never "too small" for anything, as long as you have good companions (even if they are little furry animals).
September 8, 2017
Good for a snow day or talking about the process of building something.
From Schaeffer's
From Schaeffer's
January 11, 2018
I absolutely love this story, and reading it aloud. The repetition is delightful.
January 18, 2018
Sometimes being small gives you the advantage.
September 5, 2018
Little Nell's family always told her she was too small to do anything big. Her forest friends helped her realize what she could do. Cute story with delightful illustrations.
October 22, 2018
A gorgeously illustrated book about a girl who builds an enormous snowman.
January 9, 2020
Great little book for kids that are struggling being small. Being a younger sibling can be difficult. This book helps understand that even small people have big hearts.
January 16, 2020
3.5 stars
December 12, 2020
I learned that it's not okay to say that people are too small or too big to build something. I liked when little Nell made a big snowman with her animal friends and it was ten times bigger than her.
January 7, 2021
When you are told all the time that you are not big enough to help, you start to believe it yourself. All you need is a little encouragement from friends, and you can see just what you can do.
January 14, 2021
I liked how the animals rolled the snowballs to write snowman in the snow.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews