Snowy
Snowy is a very popular award-winning picture book illustrated by the renowned Welsh artist Keith Bowen. Rachel and her family live in a narrowboat on the Chester canal, and Snowy is the boat horse. Rachel longs to take her to school on show and tell day, but Mum says Snowy is a work horse, and has a job to do. 6+
Sadly, Snowy is currently unavailable, although you may be able to find secondhand copies on Amazon or elsewhere.
Published by Troika Books, February 2014, ISBN 978-0957301391.
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The best thing about living on Beetle Juice – better than the rocking at night, better than the splish! splash! of water on its sides – is Snowy.
Snowy was also published in the USA and Wales.
Snowy won the Children’s Book Award, for the best picture book of the year.
Snowy’s narrowboat is called Betelgeuse, but Rachel calls it Beetle Juice. It seems hard to imagine that a horse could pull a huge boat along the water, even when it’s loaded with cargo of all sorts, or with people travelling and sightseeing on it.
Imagine living on a boat, hearing the water slapping against the sides, feeling the rocking at night, gliding along with the swans and coots.
And now imagine the long dark tunnels and the difficult locks you have to go through. (A lock is a gate that holds water back. When you open the lock gate, the water comes through and levels up or down with the water on the other side. This enables the boats to go uphill or downhill.)
My inspiration for ‘Snowy’
I wrote the story after I had spent a week on a narrow boat teaching creative writing to children from different schools in North Cheshire. The boat really was called Betelgeuse, and a little girl called Rachel lived in it with her mum and dad, Rik and Vi. And their boat-horse really was called Snowy.
The children and I floated up and down the canal writing stories and poems about our adventures and about canal and river family life, imagining what it must be like to live on a canal, and observing and describing the wildlife around us.
A beguiling book … a great yarn – written with a sure touch and affecting naturalness – about a little girl who lives on a narrowboat.
Kate Kellaway, The Observer
Everyone fell in love with Snowy, and they all wanted to write about her – and I did too! I sent my story to Collins, the publishers, and they asked a wonderful artist called Keith Bowen to illustrate it. His artwork has won him many awards, including, twice, the Gold Medal for fine art at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
When I told him that the story was about a real family, a real narrow boat and a real working boat horse, he was very keen to come to Chester and see for himself. He met the family, the horse and Beetle Juice, and his paintings are exactly right. I think the cover with that image of Snowy coming towards you up the towpath is one of the best picture book covers I have ever seen.
Some time ago I met the family again. Below you can see me with Rik, Vi, and grown-up Rachel.
Snowy was also the subject of a good writeup in the Narrow Boat Albert blog.
We have to thank new independent publisher Troika for re-issuing Snowy, an old favourite, written by Carnegie Medal winning Berlie Doherty. This tale of Rachel who lives on a canal boat and her white horse that pulls it has much to offer – not least to those trying to find resources for a canal topic. The difficulties Rachel has fitting in at school and the celebration of different life styles is still very relevant. The lovely warm artwork from Keith Bowen seems timeless too.
The School Librarian
Perhaps you could write a story about a horse that has to go to work. What kind of work did horses do in the past? (When I was little, coal and bread were both delivered to the house by a horse and cart. My mum used to give the horses a slice of bread and jam, and if she wasn’t in time the horse would try to get through the front door to get his treat!)
Write a story from the horse’s point of view.
What kind of work do horses do now?
Can you think of any other animals that have to work for a living? Find out how they are trained, how they relate to their owners, what they have to do. Think of sniffer dogs, for instance.
Try to make your story interesting, because you’ve done a lot of research, but funny or sad – or both! – as well.
As you might expect from Berlie Doherty, a supreme storyteller, the text is made to work hard… A gem of a picture book. Writing a picture book of this quality is difficult. It’s a pleasure to see it so perfectly realised.
Pauline Chandler, An Awfully Big Review Blogspot
If there is a canal near you, do visit it. You will be fascinated by the colourful narrowboats that families still live and work on, the locks that have to be opened and closed to make the water level rise so the boats can pass from one level to another, and the wildlife on the water and the banks.
Write a story about living on a narrowboat. Imagine how busy the canals would have been when they were major transport routes and when families lived all day on their boats. Think about the children. Would they be working too? What would their life be like? How would they have been educated?
Find out about the creators of canals, and the architects such as James Brindley, who campaigned for canals and designed the beautiful aquaducts (bridges that carry canals high up over roads and railway lines.) What were the canals created for? Who used them? How were they made?
Why and when did canals go into a decline?
Who maintains them now?
Who uses them these days?
You’ll find lots of information about canal history and family life, as well as about the people who use them regularly today for sport, work and leisure, on the Canal & River Trust website.
Wonderfully captures the beautiful poignancy of Rachel’s world and her passionate pride in Snowy, her narrow-boat horse … This really is a beautiful, timeless classic that should be on every child’s bookshelf.
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In the following two sites there are some great articles and images about history, photographs, Victorian narrow boats, and many classroom ideas: Canal & River Trust • London Canal Museum
A reassuring story that children will return to time and time again.
Lancashire Evening News
Here’s another picture book you may enjoy…
You may also enjoy my picture book The Three Princes, which is my retelling of a traditional folk tale from the Middle East, featuring bold, powerful illustrations by Cosei Cawa.
Warm, glowing pictures.
The Sunday Times
The pacing of text and pictures is impeccable.
The Horn Book
‘Snowy’ is one of the most delightful children’s books there is.
Narrow Boat Albert blog