Dandelion Snow

‘Dandelion Snow joyously celebrates childhood, nature, and community in an organic, active way that is sure to engage young children, their teachers, and their families. The kindergartners, who can see the dandelions’ true beauty, are refreshingly appreciative of a flower that most adults consider weeds. The children’s generosity of spirit shines when their concern for the flowers supersedes any selfish concern over the loss of their play area. Instead of simply lamenting the dandelion problem, they create a solution – one that will bring bright yellow light to everyone in the neighborhood. The vibrant, detailed illustrations strongly support the story’s themes. Especially effective is the use of color: the urban areas of the town are gray, while the fields and the children pop with color… Warmly recommended for home, school and library.” — Shirley Reva Vernick, SydneyTaylorSchmooze.com

 ‘Translated from Hebrew, Dandelion Snow showcases two talented Israelis: Rinat Primo, an award-winning author and Maya Ish-Shalom, an accomplished illustrator. This picture book is a creatively written and beautifully illustrated story, depicting the hope and positive aspects that can come with change. Set in Israel, the children of Rainbow Kindergarten routinely visit the same field every Friday. They all play together, enjoying the beauty of the various flowers around them. Their favorite, however, are the bright yellow dandelions. When these dandelions go to seed, they transform into fluffy white balls, shedding wispy seeds that scatter in the wind like “Dandelion Snow.” One Friday, a sign appears announcing that new homes will be built in their beloved field, effectively closing off their beautiful play area. The children are worried about where they will play on Fridays and, more importantly, what will happen to the dandelions. Determined to spread the joy of the dandelions, each child takes a dandelion and blows its white fluff as they walk, scattering the seeds so dandelions can grow in other places.
The story highlights the positive aspects of change. With the construction of new homes, there will be more children, offering the opportunity for new friendships for those in Rainbow Kindergarten. The book’s central theme explores how children react when their familiar routines are disrupted and how they adapt, highlighting the growth that can emerge from embracing change.
The text is beautifully complemented by illustrations from Maya Ish-Shalom. Her artwork vividly portrays the children with vibrant colors, skillfully capturing their various emotions, especially their joy while playing in the field. The children’s clothing is depicted in a rich palette of shades and tones, adding depth to the scenes. Most notably, Ish-Shalom emphasizes the bright yellow dandelions, highlighting their central role in the story.
This book appeals to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences and is highly recommended for all libraries.’ – Association of Jewish Libraries newsletter

 The story highlights the positive aspects of change. With the construction of new homes, there will be more children, offering the opportunity for new friendships for those in Rainbow Kindergarten. The book’s central theme explores how children react when their familiar routines are disrupted and how they adapt, highlighting the growth that can emerge from embracing change. The text is beautifully complemented by illustrations from Maya Ish-Shalom. Her artwork vividly portrays the children with vibrant colors, skillfully capturing their various emotions, especially their joy while playing in the field. The children’s clothing is depicted in a rich palette of shades and tones, adding depth to the scenes. Most notably, Ish-Shalom emphasizes the bright yellow dandelions, highlighting their central role in the story.’

This book appeals to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences and is highly recommended for all libraries.

Mimi Leyton, Association of Jewish Libraries newsletter

‘The chil­dren of Rain­bow Kinder­garten have a Fri­day rou­tine. Walk­ing with their teach­ers, Mer­av and Tal, they enjoy the open space of a field a short dis­tance from their school. Their play is most­ly unstruc­tured, but when flow­ers bloom in the Israeli win­ter, they gath­er dan­de­lions and blow the plants’ white seeds into the air. When a sign appears announc­ing that new hous­ing will be built atop their play­ground, the change is dif­fi­cult to accept. Dan­de­lion Snow sug­gests that ambiva­lence in the face of such change is appro­pri­ate, but also encour­ages chil­dren to adapt with­out aban­don­ing their joy­ful inter­ac­tion with the nat­ur­al world.

Rinat Primo’s melod­ic prose, as trans­lat­ed by June Amikam, cap­tures the children’s sense of won­der. They weave the dan­de­lions into crowns and imag­ine the flow­ers’ del­i­cate tops as ​“grand­par­ents with wispy white hair.” Ulti­mate­ly, the scat­tered white­ness reminds them of snow, in imag­i­nary con­trast to the green fields where they play. The author also describes the real­i­ty of the hot sum­mer, when the chil­dren need to wear hats for pro­tec­tion from the sun and drink water. When the sign alert­ing them of con­struc­tion arrives, they are puz­zled, but their beloved teach­ers are pre­pared. Instead of recit­ing plat­i­tudes, Mer­av and Tal offer real­is­tic guid­ance, help­ing the chil­dren adjust. When one child asks if the dan­de­lions live in the new build­ings, ​“Mer­av laughs, but she doesn’t answer.”

By the time con­struc­tion begins, the chil­dren have begun to process the idea. They are intrigued by the dig­gers, even envi­sion­ing the vehi­cles’ bright yel­low col­or as sim­i­lar to ​“huge dan­de­lions.” Mer­av plants the idea that pro­vid­ing peo­ple with new homes at least par­tial­ly com­pen­sates for the dan­de­lions’ dis­ap­pear­ance. In dia­logue with their teach­ers, the chil­dren begin to devel­op their own ideas about how to dis­trib­ute the remain­ing seeds, bring­ing ​“snow” to a busy neighborhood.

Maya Ish-Shalom’s col­or­ful illus­tra­tions com­ple­ment the text. Chil­dren with dif­fer­ent skin tones and bright cloth­ing parade down a street through a large­ly gray neigh­bor­hood. There is a clear con­trast between the dark­ness of the rainy sea­son and the bright inte­ri­ors of their classroom.

When the new con­struc­tion is com­plet­ed, the result is not a dis­rup­tion of nature. While the homes are also gray, over­sized yel­low flow­ers wrap around them like a jun­gle, and fam­i­lies enjoy the com­bi­na­tion of tech­nol­o­gy and nat­ur­al beau­ty. The children’s world will not be the same, but they have found har­mo­ny and bal­ance through the resilience mod­eled by their teach­ers. The dan­de­lion snow has not gone anywhere..’ — Emi­ly Schneider, Jewish Book Council