Description

The Snowman and the Snowdog.The story begins similarly to that of The Snowman, at the house where James, the boy from The Snowman, used to live. Once situated in the open countryside, it is now located in a bustling housing estate. On a summer day a young boy named Billy and his mother arrive at the house, which they have just moved into. Billy helps his elderly dog from the removal van and they enter the property. As autumn arrives it becomes apparent that Billy's dog has died and one can see the family burying him in the back garden. With Christmas approaching Billy writes to Father Christmas in the form of a hand-drawn picture; the one and only thing he asks for is another dog. In his excitement, at the prospect of posting the letter, he stumbles over a loose floorboard in his bedroom and beneath it discovers some toys including a toy aeroplane and a small box tied with tinsel. Within the box he finds a photo of James and the Snowman along with the original scarf, hat, coal lumps and an old dried up tangerine (once the Snowman's nose). As Billy realises his discovery he peers out of the window and it has begun to snow. He rushes out to build the Snowman, portrayed in the photo, but after barely completing his lower body he realises not enough snow has fallen to complete the task, having already used the entire covering of snow in the garden. He hurriedly runs around the yard salvaging every bit of snow he can find off fences and a shed's roof and suchlike. Adding the final touches to his creation he decides that the original dried tangerine is long past its usefulness so, discarding it in the garden, he claims a fresh one from a fruit bowl in the kitchen. He finally completes the Snowman and in memory of his own dog uses the remaining snow to build a little snowdog, next to the Snowman, with mismatching socks on sticks for ears, gloves for spots and the discarded tangerine for a nose...