I am delighted to share my review today for a gorgeous little hardback book 50 Words for Snow by Nancy Campbell. Down here in Cornwall we don’t get much especially given the coastal location, but even a sprinkling brings a smile to my face, well until I have to go to the local shop!

My huge thanks to Alison Menzies PR at Eliot & Thompson Books for sending me a copy of this book and for my spot on the Blog Tour.

Let me show you more about this beautiful book…

Synopsis…

Snow. Every language has its own words for the feather-like flakes that come from the sky. In Japanese we find Yuki-onna – a ‘snow woman’ who drifts through the frosted land. In Icelandic falls Hundslappadrifa – ‘big as a dog’s paw’. And in Maori we meet Huka-rere – ‘one of the children of rain and wind’.

From mountain tops and frozen seas to city parks and desert hills, writer and Arctic traveller Nancy Campbell digs deep into the meanings of fifty words for snow. Under her gaze, each of these linguistic snow crystals offers a whole world of myth and story.

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My Review…

What a gorgeous book Fifty Words for Snow is, both in the cover design, the snowflake images for each word and even down to the colour of the text. The blue and white them of the cover is continued inside.

The colour for the book works well and it reminded me of older Christmas cards and scenes that show the wintery white snow that has highlights of blue.

As for the words, well they not only span cultures, countries and regions but also history, folklore and fairy tales. This is a book that I found myself picking up and reading over the course of a few days. I really liked the differences between the words and how each word was presented. Some are short one-page definitions where others span a few pages giving more details on history or include sections of stories or religious text.

Each word is its own chapter, I found that I was given the word, a brief dictionary type definition and also the language it is used in. This gave it a global feel rather than concentrating on specific regions.

I liked this book a lot and I learnt various things as I read. It is ideal for perusing through as well as just sitting down and going through each word individually. A fabulous little book, full of fascinating information about snow and all things snow-related.

Fifty Words for Snow is a great book and one I would definitely recommend for those who like to find new words, learn about different cultures and experience new stories from around the world.

About the Author…

Nancy Campbell is an award-winning writer, described as ‘deft, dangerous and dazzling’ by the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Her travels in the Arctic between 2010 and 2017 have resulted in several projects responding to the environment, most recently The Library of Ice: Readings in a Cold Climate (S&S), which was longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize 2019. Her previous book on the polar environment, Disko Bay, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 2016. She has been a Marie Claire ‘Wonder Woman’, a Hawthornden Fellow and Visual and Performing Artist in Residence at Oxford University. She is currently a Literature Fellow at Internationales Kunstlerhaus Villa Concordia in Bamberg, Germany.

Check out the other stops on the Blog Tour…