The blizzard today in New England gave our own family the chance to read one of our favorite picture books by John Rocco. Blizzard tells the story from the author’s childhood  in 1978 Rhode Island when snow was so high that his family could not leave their front door or even shop for food at the local store. Little Johnny, according to the book, had been reading a survival book that informed him how to strap on tennis rackets to his feet and wax down his wooden sled runners to command 4 feet worth of snow without sinking through it.

A fold-out map of our hero Johnny’s adventures reveals his journey along the way. He visited neighbors and took down their grocery orders. He climbed trees which served as lookout perches to see where he was going. He stopped to form snow angels, throw snowballs, and build snowmen with other boys and girls gleefully trapped in this winter wonderland. It is every little boy’s dream of surviving a perilous journey and becoming everyone’s hero while still making it home in time for supper and hot cocoa by the fire.

While the snow falls outside our window today and we build our own snow forts, our kids dream of the same set of adventures. And may we too be helped rather than hindered by these beautiful interruptions to the usual frenzy of life.