ENID BLYTON - Mr. Icy Cold and Other Stories

There are thirteen short stories contained in the entire book, and all of them focus on enchanting plots which appeal to young children's imaginations. I think it would make for a great Christmas gift for a child of eight years and a little younger, as I remember getting it as a Christmas present. The stories are a great way of encouraging young children to read.

The stories contained in this book are "Mr. Icy Cold", "The Left-Behind Cat", "Chinky Goes Adventuring", "The Noah's Ark Lion", "The Funny Little Hedgehog", "The Little Green Imp", "The Magic Rubber," "Oh, Simple Simon!", "The Tale of the Goldfish," "Winkle Makes a Mistake", "What a Surprise!", "The Cow that Lost Her Moo" and "Miss Mary Ann Mouse."

The first story "Mr. Icy Cold" is written in simple English which I think would beeasy for a child to understand. The sentences are short, and the story is beautifully illustrated even though the pictures are not in color.

The story is about three children who make the perfect snowman who they call "Mr. Icy Cold." Mr. Icy Cold comes to life in the night as soon as some snow elves are passing by. He tells them his name and they tell him what they are and of the icy land far away where they come from. The snow elves return the next night and are bitter because two naught pixies have ruined their sleigh. The snowman then goes to talk to the pixies about it and frighten the pixies into repairing the snow elves' sleigh. The pixies end up repairing the sleigh, however the snow elves grow sad again as the time begins to get warmer and Mr. Icy Cold is in danger ofmelting. The snow elves then come up with the idea to take Mr. Icy Cold back to their land where it is always ice and snow.

In the end, the three children who made Mr. Icy Cold are surprised to find him gone. When their mother suggests that he must have melted, the three children are still skeptical as they have realized that the clothes he was wearing are gone too. One of the best parts of the storu as well is that there is a small picture of Mr. Icy Cold looking happy and satisfied while posing against an igloo.