Review by New York Times Review
WHAT IS THE secret to snow's alchemy - its power to transform any ordinary street into its own world? Backyards, driveways and rooftops take cover under white and everything is changed. Snow means gloves and boots and anticipation. It doubles your speed downhill, then cushions your fall at the bottom. It makes it much harder for school buses to reach their destination. But as three new books show, our captivation lies in something more than the break from routine and the opportunity for daredevil stunts. We make snowmen, we make angels, we build fortresses and we leave our footsteps wherever we go. After it snows, we sculpture the world around us, carving out stages upon which our imaginations perform. In "The Snow Rabbit," by Camille Garoche, two sisters alone in a wintry country house admire snowflakes, bare branches and exotic winter flowers just outside a large paneled window. The fact that there are no words in this book only adds to the scene's enchantment. It's not until several pages into the story that we learn one of the sisters uses a wheelchair; suddenly their admiration for what is happening outside feels more like longing. The art, meticulously crafted with handcut paper and photographed like a miniature stage set, is layered and charmingly precise. While the girl in the wheelchair waits inside, obscured and out of focus, her sister steps into the yard and creates a snowball which, after some shaping, becomes a real rabbit. That's when the adventure begins as the sisters - with bunny in tow - explore a forest of unexpected magic. Eventually the rabbit takes to hopping on its own, leading the girls farther into the dark woods. Each spread reads like a still frame of an animated feature. Garoche manages to keep the reader engaged in a sequence where the sisters chase the rabbit for several pages. When the wheelchair becomes stuck in the ice, layers of hand-cut trees twist and contort and sets of narrow eyes peer from the shadows. It's a wonderfully eerie moment, though the art feels less cinematic and lacks the lighting and color needed to capture the mood. But soon our hero the rabbit returns, 10 times its original size. It is, after all, a rabbit born from a snowball and bound by the exponential properties of the snowball effect. At last the girl is untethered from her chair, either by magic or by the two girls' imaginations. She mounts the snow rabbit and becomes a triumphant and whimsical rider of the winter night. They travel home and say farewell to their snowy friend. Garoche's hand-cut miniature sets and wordless storytelling are impressive even if capturing them through a lens is a challenge. With more careful use of the camera and more dynamic lighting, I could read (or rather look at) her stories for hours. While Garoche has created a narrative without words, Emily Jenkins's "Toys Meet Snow," illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, is a story without people. Three toys: Lumphy, a stuffed buffalo; StingRay, who is of course a plush sting ray; and Plastic, a somewhat mysteriously named rubber ball, sit in an empty house, watching the first snowfall of the year. Their playmate, whom the book calls the Little Girl, is on vacation and has left the toys to fend for themselves. With childlike fascination, they attempt to unpack the true meaning of snow, and in the process, understand life. We've met these characters before, in Jenkins's chapter book trilogy that began with "Toys Go Out." Now, however, Zelinsky's illustrations are full scale and in color, rather than the occasional black-and-white plates of the chapter books. The storytelling is necessarily more compressed, and it's wonderfully poetic, especially the logic of StingRay, whose explanation of the natural world will put a smile on any reader's face. The humor comes from the rubber ball acting as a foil to StingRay's refreshing insights, comically oversimplifying life's mechanics. When StingRay declares that snow is "a blanket of peace over the world," Plastic fires back, "No, it's frozen water." The three toys manage to leave the house, prancing about Zelinsky's dense and textured landscapes. With digital brushes, Zelinsky creates an impressionistic view of winter - spongelike dabs of color crystallize on tree branches, porch steps and patches of snow. In between rich double-page paintings, playful panels of sequential art make plain just how awkward and entertaining it is for toys to move on their own. All the while, white painterly marks whirl through the sky. A pink-as-a-strawberry sunset finally changes the rubber ball's outlook on life, but by that point the reader will already be there, waiting blissfully in the snow. In "Snow," written and illustrated by Sam Usher, the blank page transforms into a pristine sheet of snow, while the artist's wonderful array of washes and inky lines tiptoe into view from the margins. A boy hopes to be the first to puncture the morning's powdery crust, but he must first wait for his granddad to get ready. His desire to leave the house intensifies as he prods and persuades without success. Soon, the other neighborhood kids and their dogs go to the park, leaving behind a trail of mucky scribbles and spongy strokes. The boy might as well be the last kid on earth to make it outside. Anticipation transforms to absurdity when Sam notices a monkey heading down the street. By the time he and his granddad meet the others outside, an entire zoo of animals has joined the fun. Readers might puzzle whether or not the giraffe, elephant and other creatures are intended to be imaginary, perhaps the boy's own toys, or actual escaped zoo convicts, but does it really matter? Snow has a way of reshaping our reality, and it's in that sensation of wonder that Usher's truth lies. He has created the feeling that when it snows, something unexpected and magical might lurk outdoors; perhaps even a hippo or two. CHRISTOPHER SILAS NEAL illustrated "Over and Under the Snow," by Kate Messner. His new book, "Everyone," will be out next year."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [November 24, 2015]
Review by Booklist Review
In this fanciful story, which captures the magic of a romp in the snow, a young boy is eager to be the first to play in the freshly fallen snow in the park. However, he must wait for his poky grandfather to get ready. The boy begs Granddad to hurry as he watches his friends and all the neighborhood's cats and dogs pass by, prompting Granddad to joke that the whole zoo was probably there. When the two finally get to the park, some zoo animals are indeed there frolicking with the children. Both Granddad and his grandson have fun in the snow and agree that some things are definitely worth waiting for. The expressive ink-and-watercolor illustrations convey the allure of a white-swathed winter wonderland. Best is the joyous, snow-filled melee, involving an ostrich in earmuffs, an elephant in a knit cap, and a walrus in galoshes. This slight yet pleasing story will have readers wishing for a snowfall of their own.--Enos, Randall Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
An energetic, ginger-haired boy can't wait to play out in the snowy park, but his grandfather takes so long to get ready that the whole neighborhood gets there first-even a crew of animals. An elephant, ostrich, giraffe, walrus, penguin, and monkeys all play around with the boy, his grandfather, and the other children ("Grandad won the snowball fight six slushings to four"). While the story is featherlight, Usher's ink-and-watercolor cartoons have a loose energy that plants them firmly in the Quentin Blake tradition. In keeping with the anything-can-happen sense of possibility that governs snow days, Usher leaves it to readers to decide whether the animals are real or imagined. Ages 3-7. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-A young boy wakes up to find the world covered in pure, white snow. Frantic to go outside, he gets dressed in record time only to discover that Granddad isn't ready! Mundane adult tasks, such as showering and getting the proper clothing on, delay his longed-for departure. His panic builds as he watches the blanket of virgin snow get trampled by a single child, followed by a crowd of friends, and then a pack of dogs. Growing ever more frustrated, the poor kid actually thinks that he sees a monkey running across the snow, but that can't be, can it? After an agonizing wait, boy and Granddad head out to play and encounter not only his friends but an elephant, ostrich, and other outlandish animals culminating in a great and wacky snow day for all. Kids will easily relate to the excruciating wait for fun when grown-ups are involved. The appearance of the exotic animals playing in the snow (the result of the boy's stuffed animals coming to life) is jarring and took a second reading to grasp. Usher's gorgeous illustrations in ink and watercolor complement the story to a tee. VERDICT An outrageous outdoor romp to add to storytimes about snow and winter fun.-Amy Nolan, St. Joseph Public Library, St. Joseph, MI © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Expressive ink and watercolor illustrations help tell the story of a little boy who is excited to go out to play in the snow with his granddad. While Usher's text and pictures perfectly capture the boy's impatience and the sense of fresh snow as a vast canvas for play, an abrupt fantastical twist (zoo animals in the snowy park) seems forced. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
With untouched snow outside, all a boy wants to do is to go to the park, but there is an obstacle. While the boy gets ready, desperate to be the first child out in the snow, Granddad is reading in bed. He finally rises, but another child got there before himand then a whole mob of them. Granddad insists on scarves and hats while putting on his own vest and tie. After all, decorum is important in this British import. While the child grows glum, bitterly remarking that even "all the cats and dogs were out there," Granddad has the wit to observe that "the whole zoo was probably out there." Little do they know that there is a menagerie having a snowball fight in a perfectly ordinary park. An elephant, a giraffe, and a walrus are among the participants, but the monkey and the penguin look familiar. Were they in the house? Usher uses large expanses of white space that increasingly show the traffic in the snow. His quirky ink-and-watercolor drawings are full of cavorting children and animals. A double-page spread depicting a calm elephant in a stocking hat, a girl and a frisky monkey perched on his tusks, is particularly amusing. Granddad looks wary, but he soon flings snowballs with the rest. With toys coming to life, all the fun in the snow, and the lovely child-grandparent relationship, this is a welcome addition to the winter bookshelf. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
