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 Publisher's Weekly Review
Readers move through and out of winter in a series of seamlessly connected acrylic paintings on canvas-it's unclear whether Seeger actually painted the book as one long continuous scene, but it sure looks that way. Jackson's pithy rhymes create a kind of guessing game to accompany nearly every page turn. "What are these?" he asks, as readers are confronted with birch bark trunks at close range. "Trees." A hint of black can be seen at the right edge of the next spread: "And those?/ Shadows./ Of crows." Readers also discover children, the snowmen they build, and deer, but then, "Just seen?/ A hint of green." The book surges into spring and summer, before closing with "winter's hat," a snow-capped peak. A simultaneously playful and meditative riff on how interconnected-and fleeting-the seasons are. Ages 4-8. Illustrator's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-A guessing game leads youngsters from winter to spring in this quiet tour de force. The question, "What are these?" appears on a close-up of bark. A page turn reveals the answer, "Trees," as a stand of birches deep in snow-filled woods stretches across a spread. The questions continue: "And those?" next to purple splotches. The answer: "Shadows./Of crows." Each question is printed near a partial image that is completely revealed with its answer on the following page. Ice-covered branches and a girl with snow-flecked hair are included among the snowy landscapes that follow. Finally, dark, silent winter evening scenes give way to light, as the palette changes from deep purplish-blues to the bright blues, pinks, and greens of spring. Creatures appear after a winter sleep and earth surfaces through winter snow. A striking close-up of May flowers soon follows. All that's left of winter is a snow-capped mountain, described in delightful metaphor: "Winter's hat!" The acrylic paintings, all spreads, are lush and textured. The boy and girl who enjoy the winter woods and making a snowman reappear to relish such spring joys as romping in the rain and reading under a tree. The text is large and spare with one or two words on a page. VERDICT This perfect marriage of stunning illustrations and brief, often rhyming text in a question-and-answer format that will engage the lap set from the start is a first purchase.-Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA © 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
At first glance, this is the simplest of books for very young children. Short questions are posed with answers provided by turning the page. The acrylic paintings often give hints of what's to come; the rhyming text sets up patterns. But the entire book is actually one continuous scene spanning space and seasons that should keep children thinking long after the initial guessing game. (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 "snow scene" gives way to spring.Verbal and visual cues work together to prompt connections from one double-page spread to the next as spare text combines with lush, painterly acrylic illustrations to deliver a contemplative picture book. "What are these?" reads the opening line, printed against a close-up picture of birch trees against a cold, blue background. "Trees," comes the response on the next spread, with a zoomed-out visual point of view creating depth in the picture plane and depicting the birches among other trees in a snowy landscape. The facing page asks, "And those?" prompting a page turn to reveal that the purplish shapes against the snow on that page were "Shadows. / Of crows." Ensuing pages show further details in the snowy landscape and briefly introduce child characters without developing a real story around them. Instead, a changing palette works with the spare text to first indicate a shift from day to night and then from winter to spring. The children, who have light, peachy skin and dark hair, reappear and enjoy the great outdoors, as do various animals. The conclusion, showing them gazing at a snow-capped mountain in springtime, brings everything full circle. A lushly quiet read. (Picture book. 2-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
