Stella, Queen of the Snow

By Marie-Louise Gay

Winner of the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award

Stella and her little brother, Sam, are spending the day playing in the snow. The forest, snowballs, snow angels and the mysterious white stuff itself provide fuel for Sam's questions and Stella's answers as they discover the world of winter together.

Exquisite, evocative watercolors bring a snowy day alive and make this a wonderful winter story. Gently humorous, the book also captures the relationship between an older sister and her little brother -- a fun yet sometimes trying responsibility. Stella and Sam explore the wonders of snow with the same magic that they bring to all their adventures.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Groundwood Books
• Release date: May 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781773065304

Marie-Louise Gay

MARIE-LOUISE GAY is an internationally acclaimed children's book creator whose work has been translated into more than 20 languages. She has won many awards including two Governor General’s Literary Awards, the Vicky Metcalf Award for Children’s Literature, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Picture Book Award. She has also been nominated for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and the Hans Christian Andersen Award. She lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Book preview

Reviews for Stella, Queen of the Snow

[kaethe_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved the way Stella stands out against all the white space.

Library copy

[kaf015 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is fun and can has good description words.

[pmarshall_82 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Stella, an adventurous red head with a wonderful sense of humour introduces her little brother Sam, to his first snow storm in Marie-Louise Gay’s “Stella Queen of the Snow.” Sam would prefer to look at it from inside the house, asked his sister if snow is cold, hard and icy. Sam has a lot of questions which enables Stella to give him her version of snow and winter. After the first reading (to a 28 year old child) I decided Sam was a wimp, and he is to a certain extent, but on my second reading I realized that Sam plays an important role in telling the story of snow. I was, and still am, dazzled by Stella’s red curls and long ago memories of another little girl with curly red hair girl.I selected this as a Secret Santa book (2012) for a woman in Greenland who told me she wanted to rush out and play in the snow.

[kimberlyragsdale · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This could be used in a classroom while talking about the seasons or even within an English classroom when discussing different types of figures of speech. This book uses a lot of metaphors as Stella gives her own personal take on Winter. It's a delightful story that children would enjoy. The illustrations are marvelous.

[tashabear_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Stella and Sam (her brother?) play outside in the snow. I'm not sure why Sam, who seems old enough to construct intelligible questions, has never seen snow before. Stella answers all his questions about the snow and cold, and even tells him that dogs don't get cold. What the?! The snow angels singing at the end is a bit weird also. Not worthy of a public library collection.

[hnnewton · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is about learning about snow and all the fun activities you can do in the snow. You could read this book during the seasons changing between winter and fall or after the first snowfall of the year. For an activitym the students could create their own snowman or tell stories of their personal experience with snow.