Book Review of The Snowman Code
The Children’s Book Review
The Snowman Code
Written by Simon Stephenson
Illustrated by Reggie Brown
Ages: 8+ | 256 Pages
Publisher: Simon and Schuster (2025) | ISBN: 978-1-6659-8534-5
What to Expect: Family, friendship, climate change, mental illness, love, loss.
In this utterly beautiful, funny, and poignant middle-grade novel, readers will follow the story of two unlikely friends finding joy in helping each other.
Blessing has a problem: it’s March, but winter is simply refusing to end this year. That’s a problem, because winter makes Blessing’s mom so sad that she sometimes gets sent to the hospital, and Blessing gets sent to live with strangers. Albert has a problem too: the snowman code says that as a snowman, he must help any child in need of help, and what Blessing needs help with is ending the never-ending winter. That’s a problem, because the only way to end the winter is for Albert to feel ready to melt—and he won’t feel ready until he’s found his long-lost love. So, Blessing does her best to help Albert so he can help her—because that’s what friends do. But has Albert really been 100% truthful with Blessing about the Snowman Code…? And what will happen to Albert once the winter ends and the snow melts?
Blessing is kind and resourceful, and readers will enjoy her pragmatic solutions to the many problems that come her way. Albert is opinionated, stubborn, and not always quite truthful—but with his huge heart and stubborn affection for Blessing, he is also irresistibly lovable. From his woefully wrong pronouncements about how the world works to his stories about his past snowman lives, Albert’s conversations with Blessing infuse the story with irrepressible humor and joy that act as a counterbalance to the very real worries about neglect, depression, and rehoming that Blessing contends with, while Blessing’s own optimism and determination offer hope that things can always get better.
Perfect for any reader struggling with difficult home circumstances, this story offers the book equivalent of a big, warm, comforting hug.
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About the Author
Simon Stephenson originally trained as a doctor and worked in London and Scotland. He previously wrote Let Not the Waves of the Sea, a memoir about the loss of his brother in the Indian Ocean tsunami. It won Best First Book at the Scottish Book Awards, was a Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4, and a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year. His first novel, Set My Heart to Five, has been optioned by Working Title Films. He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a screenwriter. He originated and wrote the film The Electrical Life of Louis Wain and wrote on Pixar’s Luca. The Snowman Code is Simon’s first book for young readers.
Visit him online at SimonStephenson.com.
