A Letter from the Snow (3rd Edition)

Written by Ellen Bryan Obed
Illustrated by Gordon Hammond (1937-2016)
Woodsplint Illustration contributed by William H. Beardsley

Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, 1999.
Produced by Maine Authors Publishing, 2022.

For orders, email the author at [email protected].

Six-year-old Emily receives many winter letters—from her mitten lost in the snow, marshmallows “in a dark corner of the top cupboard,” a gray crayon that feels “very left out,” her favorite stuffed animal, Lambie, and more. Each writer has its own voice.

For a read-aloud, the listener enjoys guessing who is speaking. Is it Lambie? Is it a fox? Is it an icicle? Is it the snow? There are seventeen letters in all.

The letters were inspired in Nain, Labrador, when my daughter, Keturah Emily, lost her tooth in the snow on the way home from school. We wrote a letter to the tooth fairy to explain the situation. The tooth fairy answered. Thus began many more letters, over seventy in all. Collected in a quartet of seasonal books, they are A Letter from the Snow, A Letter from the Rain, A Letter from the Sand, A Letter from the Leaves.

The manuscript of four letter books won the 1999 Maine Chapbook Competition. One of the books, A Letter from the Snow, was published by Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance as part of the award.

Introducing Woodsplint in the 3rd Edition

Keturah Emily and Woodsplint with his gingham collar. (Fall, 1979)

“In the Winners Circle” – Credit: Northampton Three County Fair. September 2, 2001

PRAISE FOR A Letter from the Snow

Winner of the 1999 Maine Chapbook competition (SELECTED BY LOIS LOWRY)

“A charming whimsy which would captivate an audience of any age.” –  Lois Lowry

“It captures the poetic world of childhood where inanimate things, like shoes and toys, come alive.”
~ Lynn Ascrizzi in Capturing the Poetic Vision of Childhood, Central Maine Newspapers, July 25, 1999