Stopping by Jungle on a Snowy Evening

In the spirit of Lane Smith and Jon Klassen, this delightfully irreverent picture book dives into the world of Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” where a boy with a unique vision gives some creative feedback to the famed poet.

When Robert Frost writes, “Whose woods these are I think I know,” he paints a picture of a serene winter night in the deep woods, surrounded by blankets and blankets of snow. But the tranquil scene is interrupted by a little boy! This wildly imaginative interloper generously offers to tweak the poem to make it more exciting.

Instead of riding a horse, why not a hippo? And replace the snow falling from the sky with cookie dough! As Robert Frost sputters in dismay, the boy unleashes poetic mayhem, but when his edits get away from him, the self-possessed poet and chaotic kid have to put their heads together to make a clean getaway.

 The disconnect between the staid poet and the imaginative child makes for a highly amusing example of metafiction, while the digital art blends elegantly composed wintry backdrops with cartoonish images of the characters and various animals, with gleefully chaotic results. Sets an American literary classic on a wonderfully wrong turn.  -- Kirkus Reviews 10/15/2024
In this picture book, author Richard T. Morris and illustrator Julie Rowan-Zoch have taken Frost’s words off the shelf, given them a dusting, added a kid and a hippopotamus, and created a delightful, charming and clever tale. Stopping by Jungle on a Snowy Evening is an irreverent homage that will leave all readers smiling. 

Julie Rowan-Zoch’s cartoon-like depiction of the protagonist is immediately familiar and loveable: curious, imaginative and a little cheeky, wearing a backwards hat and slide sandals. In contrast, Frost is drawn in a more traditional style. Rowan-Zoch’s bold, clever art mashes both their worlds together [...] Reality and imagination smash together, and the result is perfect hilarity.

Stopping by Jungle on a Snowy Evening is a rare find. It’s a combo of old and new, clever and classic, innovative and familiar—perfect for any fathomable storytime scenario. Even more rare, there isn’t a single thing this reviewer would change about it. Two thumbs up. -- BookPage, STARRED REVIEW 12/1/2024

Richard T. Morris is the author of Fear the Bunny, Stopping by Jungle on a Snowy Evening, This Is a Moose, Piggypine, and Bye-Bye, Baby!. He is a former E.B. White Award Honoree and Midwest Bookseller Choice Award winner. He lives in New Jersey with his family.

Julie Rowan-Zoch grew up collecting freckles and chasing hermit crabs in New York and spent years slicing rich breads in Germany before waking up to 300 days of blue Colorado skies. She is the author of I’m a Hare, So There! and the illustrator of Not All Sheep Are Boring by Bobby Moynihan, Louis by Tom Lichtenheld, and Debug This Book by Omar Abed. Follow Julie on X (previously known as Twitter) @JulieRowanZoch and on Instagram @JRZoch. 

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