Review by New York Times Review
Turning the pages of the "Chirri & Chirra" books, imports from Japan, feels like falling into a tiny, exquisite dream. This latest one has a wintertime theme and a mochi-colored palette. The adorableness is off the charts as the rosy-cheeked twins head out on their bikes and find the usual talking animals, sweet treats and other early childhood wish-fulfillment items (marbles, hand-held lanterns, a shelf of colorful books). This outing, on the first day of snowfall, takes them to an ice structure teeming with fun, then on to a cosy igloo for the night. GOODBYE AUTUMN, HELLO WINTER Written and illustrated by Kenard Pak. 32 pp. Henry Holt. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) Pak's follow-up to "Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn" once again bids adieu to a departing season and greets the new one, delightfully. A girl and a smaller boy walk through the pages saying hello, heading out of fall scenes and into snowy winter ones, listening as trees, birds and animals explain what they're doing to get ready for the cold. Soon, frost and snowflakes are pointing out their roles in the stunning wintertime scenes. Pak's ethereal digital art creates a wintry mood that somehow combines movement with seemingly endless serenity. THE SNOWBEAR By Sean Taylor. Illustrated by Claire Alexander. 32 pp. words & pictures. $17.95. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) Waking up to snow, a brother and sister rush outside to make a snowman. It turns out to be more of a snowbear - and thankfully so, because they take off down the hill on their sleds and meet a wolf. Their snow creation saves them, then returns to his spot near the house. Naturally their mom doesn't believe them, but the next morning the snowbear is gone. Did he melt, or... ? The story rides the edge between reality and magic with gentle aplomb; Alexander's loose, free-spirited art makes the magic feel quite possible. MICE SKATING By Annie Silvestro. Illustrated by Teagan White. 32 pp. Sterling. $16.95. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) Field mice are supposed to spend the winter burrowing and huddling underground, but little Lucy would rather be out in the bracing cold. She can't convince her mouse friends to join her, until she finds a way to get them to follow her to the pond for ice skating. Silvestro's simple story is heavy on cheese puns likely to sail past younger listeners, but White's charming illustrations, with their miniaturist sensibility and cosy wood-toned textures, will have little ones hunting through the pages for details of the field-mouse lifestyle and decor. SNOW SCENE By Richard Jackson. Illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. 32 pp. Neal Porter/Roaring Brook. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 8) This fourth book from the former children's editor Jackson romps around outdoors, its few, coy words inviting readers to look harder at the lovely textured acrylic paintings by Seeger ("First the Egg," Green"), a two-time Caldecott Honor winner. We begin in the deep of winter, when a coat of snow renders everything worthy of a second glance - is that the shadow of a crow? Frost in a girl's hair? Each page turn tells a fuller story. As in life, eventually we're in rich springtime scenes, straightforward as a sunny day. But a final page leaves us, appropriately, with the lingering memory of winter. online An expanded visual presentation of this week's column at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [November 12, 2017]
Review by Booklist Review
On a hilltop in late autumn, a girl and a boy play with a pile of leaves. As they walk past a farm and into the nearby town, they greet what they see, from birds, beasts, and flowers to the setting sun and the North Star. Each offers an informative response, such as the frost and icicles' reply, Hello! We decorate the windows and hang from the eaves. After snow falls overnight, the kids return to the hilltop to build a snowman. The book's last line is its title, saying farewell to fall while hailing winter. While the text offers imagery enhancing the observations related to seasonal change, it's the artwork that will draw children to this quiet, inviting book. Created with digitally-enhanced pencil and watercolors, Pak's illustrations offer a strong sense of place, with overlapping layers of tawny hues and varied textures creating depth, while falling and blowing leaves add movement to the scenes. A worthy companion volume to Pak's Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn (2016) and a welcome classroom read-aloud choice.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Two children experience the transition from autumn to winter in this luminous picture book. In a brown field edged with trees, a dark-haired duo, perhaps brother and sister, play in a pile of red, yellow, and orange leaves. As they travel across the landscape, the text alternates between simple greetings-"Hello, leaves. Hello, clouds."-and responses. "Hello! We're ready to fly far, far south," the robins and cardinals reply. This dialogue is whimsical and informational, succinctly describing the habits of animals and plants preparing for winter, but also greeting the "silent night" who "quiet(s) the juniper and maple trees." The children journey from the forest's edge, past a farm, and into town as the hazy afternoon turns to blue twilight. While they sleep, their world is transformed into a winter snowscape with only the occasional red leaf appearing as a visual link to autumn. Upon waking, they reverse their journey, greeting snowflakes, frost, and icicles, and finally building a snowman in the same field where they began. Pak's digitally enhanced watercolor-and-pencil illustrations contrast the rounded softness, reds, and browns of the countryside with the sharp corners, grays, and blues of a vibrant, diverse urban community preparing for the winter holidays. Each detailed spread is arranged horizontally, making it easy for young audiences to follow the children's movement from left to right across the countryside. VERDICT Lyrical and informative, this lovely introduction to the seasons is perfect for sharing with young audiences in groups or one-on-one.-Chelsea Couillard-Smith, Hennepin County Library, MN © Copyright 2017. 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
Hello, late autumn afternoon." In this companion to Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, a sister and brother take a long walk, greeting leaves, birds, farm animals, the setting sun, and more; the next morning, it's snowing. "Hello, winter!" Evocative pencil and watercolor illustrations on full-bleed double-page spreads beautifully capture the changing seasons as the warm colors of fall give way to cool grays and whites. (c) Copyright 2018. 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
A brother and sister walk through woods and town, acknowledging autumn and welcoming winter in this picture book. Expanding on Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn (2016), author/illustrator Pak continues the theme, this time with a black-haired, brown-skinned boy and girl who ramble through woods, town, and countryside as they converse with the trees, birds, horses, sheep, deer, snow, and wind, saying goodbye to fall and hello to winter. The digitally enhanced watercolor-and-pencil illustrations are as quiet and graceful as the slow passage of the seasons. Diversity, both ethnically and culturally (a Kwanzaa kinara, a Jewish menorah, and a star-topped Christmas tree are all included in the illustrative details, as are various colors of people), is well-represented. But many of the nature facts in the text are inaccurate. Cardinals don't "fly far, far south," daisies of the type illustrated do not bloom in the late autumn, and autumn evenings (as opposed to nights) are shorter, not longer. Such lapses make the whole story suffer. Factual errors aside, the story flows wellits cadence is serene and accepting, with a pleasant, otherworldly quality that is reinforced by the soft double-spread illustrations. Lovely to look at; frustratingly inaccurate. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
