The Little General and the Giant Snowflake
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In this compelling tale for children and adults alike, the poet Matthea Harvey collaborates with artist Elizabeth Zechel to create a powerful, resonant allegory for these times of violent military solutions to global problems.
In this compelling tale, there is a little general who heads an army called the Realists. Every day he and his troops practice battle formations while the Dreamers, the opposing army, play strange, peaceful games. The little general's soldiers include Sergeant Samantha, who is very tall and wishes the general would pay more attention to her, and Lieutenant Lyle, an imaginative fellow who always seems to get into trouble. One day the little general sees a giant snowflake hovering in his garden and realizes he is suffering from a disease of the imagination. He is ashamed and pretends not to see it, but eventually he discovers that everyone in his army has a similar problem. What magical message is the snowflake trying to bring to the general, and to the world? In a time of violent military solutions to global problems, this illustrated allegory by a leading poet has a particular, powerful resonance.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This tidy allegory about the importance of imagination pits a group of Realists, led by a diminutive and orderly general (who has a meticulously tended flowerbed and an appreciation for the blind devotion of lemmings) against an army of Dreamers. Not that there's ever any actual fighting ("The Dreamers were always too busy playing games. But the little general thought it best to be prepared"). However, the general's discovery of a giant snowflake one morning becomes the first crack in his steely facade; soon he's having surreal dreams and losing his grip on his loyal army. With the help of two soldiers Sergeant Samantha (who has braided pigtails, rectangular glasses, and a clandestine crush on the general) and the bumbling, free-spirited Lieutenant Lyle and the Dreamers themselves, the general learns that a little imagination can go a long way. Both Zechel's (Is There a Mouse in the Baby's Room?) whimsical grayscale drawings and Harvey's lovely, straightforward prose are characterized by an understated sense of humor that should give the book crossover potential. Ages 8 up.
