The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

Rating: ★★★★★ 

In the last few days I have been trying to get into the christmas festival mood because so far it doesn't feel like the christmas season. We have had terrorist attacks weeks ago, politicians who seem to approve the destruction of our government, and the nonsense that is surrounding our environment in this day and age. I am on major social media yet at the same time I am barely on it merely just to keep tabs on what is going on in the world. I am mostly on Goodreads because nothing is political unless it is a book, my friends who I consider Goodreads family are wonderful individuals inside and out, and I truly treasure them and books.

With the gloom that is trying to surround me, I am using books and other forms of media to entertain myself and for a brief moment I forget the troubles that are happening inside and out of my life. When I picked this book I already knew I was going to love it because I have read a graphic novel by Raymond Briggs and was intrigue by the contents of the story and using drawings to illustrate a person's life.

This book has no words which was a surprise but it doesn't ruin the story. I believe Raymond Briggs used to this tactic to make sure everyone from all ages both young and old can appreciate it and discover that you do not need words to tell a story. This was such a wonderful book that allowed me to have different emotions both of pure happiness and hope and yet I wanted to cry at the end of it all. I am not going to give spoilers away but I highly recommend everyone to pick up this book and read it to yourself, your children, and your loved ones.

It deals with a boy who witness that winter has finally arrive since the whole backyard is cover in snow. He decides to spend the day outside and he builds a snowman and use different materials that he discovers. Immediately you can see that the Snowman has come alive but we don't see any action until the next day when the boy opens the door and witness the Snowman turning around. Through the course of the story we get to see a beautiful bond between the Snowman and the boy.

The illustrations are simple with plenty of colors which personally for me I felt like I had time traveled to a simpler time where smart phones didn't clog our day-to-day activities and we got to the innocence and pure joy of a child during christmas time. They adapted this story into a television special which I haven't seen but I can sure imagine how impactful it can be towards the imagination of a child. 

While this book didn't necessarily put me in the holiday spirit it nonetheless became the foundation for what is to come in the next couple days leading up to Christmas. Thank you so much Raymond Briggs for creating this classic children story.