Review by New York Times Review
Its time for a fresh batch of holiday stories, sprinkled with tales of snow. GOOD MORNING, SNOWPLOW! By Deborah Bruss. Illustrated by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson. Don't be fooled by the title - the action takes place over the course of one night, when a rural town is covered in deep snow. That means no rest for the snowplow, whose driver jumps inside, his dog by his side, to get to work. Written in punchy, succinct rhymes, Bruss's text captures the primal appeal of both snow and snowplowing, while Fancher and Johnson's dazzling art makes the book feel special, a celebration of winter nighttime beauty and the people - and machines - who cheerfully rise to the occasion when the going gets snowy. 32 pp. Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic. $17.99. (Ages 3 to 5) LITTLE OWL'S SNOW Written and illustrated by Divya Srinivasan. This lovely third picture book featuring the tiny, giant-eyed Little Owl begins in late autumn and quickly plunges into winter, when many of Little Owl's friends are unavailable thanks to hibernation or migration, and life begins to seem a little dull. Even the thrill of the first snowfall wears off. But with help from Mama Owl's wise advice, Little Owl adjusts to the quiet and solitude and learns to appreciate the snow. Srinivasan paces her gentle story perfectly, and her simple digital art is appealing, with cute, watchful creatures and soft-edged shapes. 32 pp. Viking. $17.99. (Ages 3 to 5) A WHISPER IN THE SNOW By Kate Westerlund. Illustrated by Feridun Oral. Three rabbits and two mice (twins) hear a whisper under the snow. They dig and find a wet, sad stuffed bear, so they pack him in a little wagon and cart him to a friend's house. There they fix him up, get him dressed and enlist some bird friends to find the child who has lost him. Even the truly jaded may melt a bit over this charming, exquisitely illustrated Beatrix Potter-esque Christmas tale, which wears its holiday message and its life lessons (teamwork, compassion, critical thinking) as lightly as the season's first dusting of snow. 32 pp. minedition. $17.99. (Ages 3 to 8) TOUGH COOKIE: A CHRISTMAS STORY Written and illustrated by Edward Hemingway. What if the candy-studded cookie in the classic "Gingerbread Man" tale actually tasted terrible - because he was (spoiler alert) really a tree ornament, baked with glue and salt? That's the clever premise of this entertaining story about a sugar cookie and a fox who spits him out ("Blech! You taste awful.... plus, I think I just broke my tooth"). The book delivers a parable of selfacceptance, as well as recipes for sugar cookies - both the edible and ornamental varieties. 40 pp. Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt. $17.99. (Ages 4 to 8) LITTLE FOX IN THE SNOW By Jonathan London. Illustrated by Daniel M ¡yares. Foxes and snow are a picture-book staple, but this one is different: It's both winter-cozy and a realistic hunting story. "Hunger draws you like a bow," the book's narrator says to the little fox. "You must hunt! " A white hare - "no match for a fleet-footed fox" - soon fills his belly. Miyares, whose watercolor art is as stunning as always, shows a bit of red staining the stream as the fox takes a cold drink of water after his meal. 40 pp. Candlewick. $16.99. (Ages 4 to 8) I GOT THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT By Connie Schofield-Morrison. Illustrated by Frank Morrison. This refreshing ode to the Christmas spirit does not (as so many do) lament the lack of it these days. Instead, an ebullient girl with pompom pigtails and a purple parka tells how she feels and shares it: caroling, eating hot candied nuts from a street vendor, donating coins, ice skating: "I twirled and swirled around the spirit." Morrison's felicitous art bursts off each page with a pop of energy. 32 pp. Bloomsbury. $16.99. (Ages 4 to 8) THE BROKEN ORNAMENT Written and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. Jack is a kid who sees Christmas as a bottomless goody bag. When he shatters an ornament that meant a lot to his mom, she's crushed, but Jack is clueless until a fairy grants him all his wishes for more, more, more. Then she shows him the moving story behind the ornament, and he changes his Christmas tune. The story can seem as jarringly jam-packed as Jack's Christmas list, but it drives home its message heartily, with a maximalist retro visual style. 48 pp. Simon & Schuster. $17.99. (Ages 4 to 8) ONE CHRISTMAS WISH By Katherine Rundell. Illustrated by Emily Sutton. Theo, whose busy parents are out on Christmas Eve, finds a box of old ornaments. He wishes on a shooting star to be "un-alone," and they come to life. Adventures, mishaps and true connections follow. Rundell's ("Into the Jungle," "Rooftoppers") lively, eloquent prose and Sutton's warm, delicate art make for an enchanting chapter-book read-aloud. 64 pp. Simon & Schuster. $18.99. (Ages 5 to 9) maria Russo is the children's books editor at the Book Review.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 30, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
From sunrise to sunset, one day in the life of a solitary red fox is expressed poetically. After waking up in his cozy burrow, the young fox goes hunting for breakfast. He pounces and catches a mouse, which serves to only whet his appetite, so he chases down a snowshoe hare to complete his meal. A narrator tells readers what the fox is doing but also asks questions of the young animal: Little foxling, where will you go? You flow like a shadow across the fields. You leave little paw prints behind in the snow. Ink-and-watercolor illustrations deftly reveal the small fox with brushstrokes that mimic the animal's rust-colored fur. Dark trees contrast with the bright white-blue-gray snow, while the animal and the flaming sunset stand out in pink and red. The fox quickly changes from predator to potential prey, revealing how dangerous life can be for the young animal. Lyrical language with subtle rhymes creates an easy-to-read nature tale about a small creature surviving in a vast winter landscape.--Maryann Owen Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this account of a day in the life of a young fox by London (the Froggy series), the first spread peeks into the animal's den. In the velvety dark, a beam of sunlight strikes the curled-up fox. It opens one eye and wakes: "You stretch,/ then follow your breath.../ out into the snow./ Little foxling, where will you go?" A fox must eat. It nabs a mouse but needs more. A snowshoe hare loses the chase, "no match/ for a fleet-footed fox." It drinks, in a wide-view scene that takes in the stream and the bare trees beyond. After evading a wolverine in a heart-pounding series of spreads, the fox returns to its burrow and the sun sets. "Little foxling, what do you dream?" the narrator wonders, and Miyares (That Is My Dream!) paints the forms of a vixen and a fox family as constellations in the winter sky. London energetically conveys an animal's primal concerns, while Miyares's rough strokes and bold washes emphasize a winter forest's web-of-life realities and stark beauty. Ages 4-8. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-A little fox sticks his head out of his snug hole in the early morning. He sets off to hunt in the cold snow. At first he catches only a mouse, but a hare comes along to satisfy his hunger. After a refreshing drink, the little fox stops for a good sniff. His attention is caught by the smell of a she-fox. Before he can pursue the vixen though, he comes across something much more dangerous (a wolverine) and must flee as fast as he can back to his tree. The poetic language that London uses makes this a great book for reading aloud. The naturalistic adventures of the young fox are both accurate and exciting, portraying the beauty and the danger that exists in the wild. Miyares's gorgeous ink-and-watercolor illustrations match the text word for word, providing a beautiful complement to the descriptions given. -VERDICT A compelling look at predators and prey and the stark realities of life in the wild. Recommended for collections looking for realistic winter-themed tales.-Heidi Grange, Summit Elementary School, Smithfield, UT © Copyright 2018. 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
A young fox hunts in the snow and looks for a vixen whose scent he's detected. A hungry wolverine chases him back to his den, where he settles down for the night. Occasional rhyming words and alliteration add richness to the text, and ink and watercolor illustrations capture the winter light and animals' movement. (c) Copyright 2019. 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
In the snowy forest, a little fox is in turn the hunter and the hunted.Opening on a young fox tucked safely inside his burrow, the second-person narration describes the fox's day as he explores the snowy expanse, captures lunch, and surprises a wolverine, shifting the young fox from predator to prey. After a ferocious chase, the fox escapes and settles in to sleep, the narrator musing about the fox's potential future as father to kits of his own. The tale unfolds in expressive free-form poetry. The short, evocative lines beautifully capture the dreamy stillness of the fox's wandering, "lap[ping] tiny tongue-curls of icy cold water," but deftly alternate with lines that burst forth with the urgency of the chase: "Little foxyou must go go go!" London's fox is clearly wild, not a storybook animal, and Miyares doesn't shy away from authenticity either, with the fox's snacks shown realistically (though without gore). His painterly watercolors showcase the forest's vastness and the rust-red fox, whose toothy gray shadow blazes against gleaming white snow. The fox exudes dignity and complexity, with the agile animal breaking the frame of an action-packed hunting page but also presenting as tiny and imperiled when pursued. While the story itself is a tad slight, words and art effectively convey the fox's fluctuating role in the forest ecosystem.An ideal introduction to nature's complexities, wrapped up in an unexpectedly poetic package. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
