The Snowman is a picture book by English illustrator Raymond Briggs. It was published in 1978 by Random House. The book follows a boy building a snowman that comes alive at midnight. They play all night long, careful not to wake up the parents. The snowman and the boy feast on delicacies and later go watch the sunrise. The boy wakes up to find that the snowman has completely melted.
Briggs sticks to his signature sad endings, stating that his stories follow the natural order of life. Everything eventually perishes, no matter how precious they are. The book was honored with the 1979 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. It is highly regarded as one of the best and most popular children's books in the world.
The Snowman was adapted into an animated short film by English filmmaker Dianne Jackson. It was released in 1982 on Channel 4 and has been aired every single Christmas since. The film was nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 55th Academy Awards. It has inspired many more productions around the world.
