Bundle up for snowy fun with these four kids' books
After the snowman has been built and the snowballs have been thrown, kids can settle down with a cup of hot chocolate and one of these excellent new wintry picture books.
Best in Snow
Written and photographed by April Pulley Sayre
Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster, 40 pp., for ages 3-8
**** stars
Sometimes images are gorgeous enough that a story laid on top would only be a distraction. April Sayre’s photographs of a snow-covered forest will rivet young readers. She captures the curious expression of a squirrel, its head dusted in flakes, and the individual puffed feathers of a chilled cardinal. Sayre pays equal attention to the abstract beauty of the forest: the geometries of snow-iced branches, the grays and whites of a forming cloud, the polygons of a fresh snowflake. The text gently guides the reader’s attention to special details as the photographic beauties unfold. A helpful author’s note at the end highlights the science of snow.
Before Morning
Written by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 40 pp., for ages 4-7
***½ out of four stars
Is wishing for a snow day enough to make one happen? Before Morning starts without words, showing busy night scenes as a family goes about its affairs in town, up until a young girl falls asleep wishing snow would cancel her mother’s shift as an airline pilot the next day. The text reflects her hopes: “as we slumber unknowing, / let the sky fill with flurry and flight.” Over a sequence of gorgeous spreads, her wish is granted, and the day off is devoted to sledding and snuggling. Joyce Sidman’s spare and metaphorical language is kid-accessible but in no way juvenile, and Beth Krommes’ scratchboard art beautifully captures the black and white tones of one special snowy night.
Samson in the Snow
Written and illustrated by Philip C. Stead
Roaring Brook Press, 40 pp., for ages 4-8
***½ stars
Even though it’s a beautiful spring day, Samson the woolly mammoth is sad and lonely. Thanks to Philip Stead’s evocative art, there’s no mistaking the aching emotion on Samson’s scrunched-up face. When a little red bird comes asking to pick a few dandelions from Samson’s patch to bring to a friend, he obliges — and then, when a fearsome blizzard crops up, goes out searching for the delicate little creature. Stead captures the disorientation of a ferocious storm, and his portraits of stricken animals tug at the heart without ever being cutesy. When Samson finally finds his little red bird (and makes a second new friend in the process) young readers will cheer that the shaggy beast’s melancholy has finally lifted.
Poles Apart
Written by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Jarvis
Nosy Crow, 32 pp., for ages 3-7
***½ stars
Apparently penguin dads shouldn’t be in charge of reading the map. (“He told everyone to turn right at the snowman. / Which was wrong.”) Now the Pilchard-Brown penguin family is lost — so lost that they find themselves at the wrong pole. Though a helpful polar bear in a red hat offers to help them find their way back to Antarctica, the family gets even more lost, winding up in various tourist spots around the world before finally making their way back home. Jarvis’ art has charm in spades, and kids will love following the various facial expressions of the penguin family members. Though the tourist spots feel broad and verge on cliché (“India. / ‘Namaste!’ said Mr. Pilchard-Brown. / ‘Hot!’ said Peeky”) this is a spirited and exuberant tale of making friends and finding home.
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Eliot Schrefer is the author of Rescued.