Snowman – Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations

Snowman – Cold = Puddle is a picture book that hides poems in math problems. An example is “hive + bees – bees + bees = airport.” Then there is a little collage and some simple science facts. I didn’t learn any new science from this book. It is written for preschool and younger elementary kids. One science fact is that when spring comes, a bunch of geese migrate north. I like the geese poem, because it is written in a v-shape. I also like the poems about the water cycle, dandelion seeds, pollinating flowers, and beaver families. The book starts in winter and ends in spring. There’s an author’s note, an illustrator’s note, facts about spring, and further reading. I like how the illustrator told us how she did her drawings. She used collage-style. My favorite part is the illustrations. I just like looking at them. Some of them are pretty funny too. In one, the snowman is melting and looks sad. It made me laugh. It was clever when the woodpecker was tapping the tree while the humans were tapping their own trees for maple syrup, which was on the next page. Some of the spring pages are too colorful. It drew my attention to one part of the picture and didn’t really let me notice the whole thing; but overall, I liked it.