Guest Post + Review - The Snowman's Revenge by Mark Smythe

Please welcome Mark Smythe, author of The Snowman's Revenge to One Book Shy as he tells us how the book came about.  

Why I Wrote the Book

A Joke

A religious man is on top of a roof during a great flood. A man comes by in a boat and says "get in, get in!"  The religious man replies, "No, I have faith in God, he will grant me a miracle."

Later, the water is up to his waist and another boat comes by and the guy tells him to get in again. He responds that he has faith in God and God will give him a miracle. With the water about chest high, another boat comes to rescue him, but he turns down the offer again because "God will grant me a miracle."

With the water at chin high, a helicopter throws down a ladder and they tell him to get in, mumbling with the water in his mouth, he again turns down the request for help, stating that a miracle of God will save him yet.

He arrives at the gates of heaven with broken faith and says to Peter, “I thought God would grant me a miracle and I have been let down."

St. Peter chuckles and responds, "I don't know what you're complaining about, we sent you three boats and a helicopter."

Explanation

If I’m even lucky enough to be invited to the gates of heaven, I didn’t want St Peter to say to me: “Hey Mark, we sent you some pretty good ideas, like that snowman book thing. Why didn’t you do anything with that?”

So, it was something that just HAD to be done. Despite the time and all of the work and the ongoing expenditures and all of the seemingly endless efforts required, it ……. just …….. had …….. to ……… be ……… done ………., regardless.

Besides, it was great fun and thoroughly enjoyable and a great learning experience, as well.

And, when I see the smiles on little faces, like when I read it to a classroom at our local elementary school, it certainly makes it all very much worthwhile.

Mark Smythe

BIO

Mark Smythe resides in a small, rural town located in the beautiful Southern geography of Western New York State. It is a lovely and quaint agricultural community, just South of Buffalo, New York.

He and his two children, Cassandra and Alexander, live on a picturesque, turn-of-the-century farm complete with a charming old white farmhouse, quaint red barns and wooden pasture fences.

Mark is an Interior Structural Fire Fighter with a local Volunteer Fire Department, and also works in the field of Bio-Oncology Diagnostics.

TITLE:    The Snowman's Revenge
AUTHOR:    Mark Smythe, illustrations by Mike Motz
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 44 pages
PUBLISHED:   Mark Smythe, 2008
SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:  If you were left out in the cold snow all by yourself, would you be mad? Of course you would! Well, this snowman is out for revenge, especially after he sees those kids in the nice warm house, eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate! So, let's see what happens in this delightful story, nicely flowing with rhymed verse, beautifully illustrated and quite humorous indeed. So lovable, it's sure to be an instant favorite and a timeless classic with "kids" of all ages.

MY TAKE:    This is the perfect book for reading to the younger crowd or having them read it back to you.  It is the story of a disgruntled snowman who is left out in the cold while the kids are having fun inside without him.  He sees them enjoying the warm house and even warmer cocoa that Mom makes and starts to get a little upset.  As he plots his revenge, nature takes its course and... you will just have to read the book for the rest.


A delightful tale that is a quick and easy read.  The illustrations are bright and colorful and are a perfect match to the rhythm of the story.  I think it would be a fantastic gift for the whole family this holiday season.  (I do caution against reading it to the really young as the snowman is a little bit scary when he's mad.)  Recommended for ages 4 and above.

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

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~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.