Jillian Jiggs and the Great Big Snow (2024)

I just have such a bad taste in my mouth with the illustrations of certain Jillian Jiggs books that I think I don't even give them a chance. This rating may be biased because of that. Take that into consideration. There is rhyming and I kinda hated it.

One of my all-time favourites: great story, wonderful rhyming, fun illustrations. Now that my kids are teenagers, I read it to others in Kids Club at my Horizons Language Center (Centre de langues Horizons) where elementary-school age kids learn English as a second language.

I have loved Jillian Jiggs since i was a child, she was my favourite Phoebe Gilman book to read.

And now 30 years later, I'm buying them again to complete my collection.

The back cover of this book tells me that “Phoebe Gilman is one of Canada’s best-loved children’s book author/illustrator.” After reading Jillian Jiggs and the Great Big Snow, I can see why.

When I read a picture book, I speak out loud, as if I were reading to a child. To do that with this book is a real pleasure. In two-line rhymes, Gilman fairly bounces us through the story of Jillian, excited by the snow but not allowed out until she finds her hat. Her mom says:
“Jillian, Jillian, say it’s not true.
How do you lose all things that you do?”

By the time Jillian finishes her play outside, she is minus her scarf, hat, and both mittens and her friends and her sister have repeated this mantra several times.

The imagination in the snow play is wonderful – the children build Martians and monsters, and roads for Mars. And the issue of lost outerwear is very realistic – a perennial problem with children.

The illustrations, “created in gouche and coloured pencils”, are also excellent – bright and cheerful with just the right amount of detail. I stop and examine the pictures and point out to myself what I would to a child: a small cat in the house scenes, various implements and activities in the outdoor scenes.

I didn’t expect to like this book much, but I did and I highly recommend Jillian Jiggs and the Great Big Snow, especially to children who live in snowy climates! 4½ stars

Written and illustrated by: Phoebe Gilman
Published by: North Winds Press 2002

Jillian is a child with a zest for life; unfortunately she is known to lose a thing a or two. And do you know what her mother will say?

"Jillian, Jillian say it's not true!
How do you lose all the things that you do?"

But in this story it goes very far, such as how many things can she lose in one day at the park? While playing in the snow with her friends and making a series of Martian snow creatures, she loses item after item of clothing but just keeps playing.

The illustrations in this story were great fun. Children will love them and the rhyming story. It is an awesome book and we will be looking to read more Jillian Jiggs adventures soon.

Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More.

The flow and rhyming make it a pleasure to read aloud, and the children can join in on some of the phrases that are repeated. I like that the sentences are long, and resemble everyday speech patterns (unlike green eggs and ham).
The illustrations are cute and aptly capture the topic on each page.
Something we can all relate to is a missing hat, scarf and mittens. Add to that the excitement of a fresh snowfall, and all the wonderful things you can dream up when playing outside, and you've got a fun story.
I really enjoyed reading this book to my children.

On the last day of Kindergarten before the break I took the kids to the library and read them this story about how Jillian Jiggs is always losing her things in the snow. They thought it was quite funny and had fun guessing what she would lose next. Later that day we had to walk to the hall for the Christmas Dinner and one of the boys decided to go through some deep snow and lost his boot! I said he was just like Jillian Jiggs and they all laughed and laughed.

I love Jillian Jiggs. The rhyming prose is flowing, fun and smart. The kids love it because they can chime in and there's just something magical and heartwarming about Jillian Jiggs. Like Dr. Seuss; you are never too old for Jillian Jiggs. In the Great Bug Snow, you can celebrate the winter time with kids and laugh as Jillian loses every single piece of her warm winter clothing. I now tell my students when something is lost "it isn't list, it just isn't found".

A cute book with enjoyable rhyming. We can definately relate to the losing of mittens, hats, etc.

A good winter time book, I use it for inquiry and it's interactive in having children find the items lost, the creatures made.