Cold

Lovely illustrations and eloquent, rhyming prose combine in this inviting, engaging introduction to the concept of coldness. The opening lines, "Cold is a morning / dappled in dew, / a canvas of sky painted yellow and blue," accompanies a scene of deer in a sunlit field. Then, a hawk soaring over mountains "braves the chill of a midwinter's day." Other scenes visit a riverbank, a meadow, a desert, the ocean, and so on, each introduced by the refrain "cold is . . . ." All eventually leads to a more expansive scene including some of the creatures featured earlier, as well as bundled-up children and their adults, playing and exploring: "Here in our world / there is much to behold, / where life finds a way when the weather is cold." The light, lively poetic text evokes a sense of wonder and appreciation for cold weather, and the detailed, varied scenes emphasize how much activity still happens even when it's cold and nothing's growing. Informational endnotes include explanations of cold temperatures and winter, how animals adapt, the impacts of climate change, and more.

A serenade to low temperatures. Rhyming couplets accompanied by nature scenes encourage youngsters to admire what the outside world has to offer in the colder seasons. Perfectly pitched and paced, McCanna's elegant, well-chosen words would make this a pleasure to read aloud. "Cold is a feeling, / a quiver, a quake / that sinks to the bone till you shiver and shake." Though this isn't a bedtime tale, the text and illustrations have the same calming effect. The artwork is full of curves and swirls--of light, water, snowmelt patterns, even bird wings and raccoon tails. A nicely rounded story arc carries readers from fall to snowy winter. First, author and illustrator introduce a family of deer in a meadow on "a morning / dappled in dew." The following scenes, mostly double-page spreads, depict other animals in a variety of locations and times of day--even on a desert at night. The last few scenes return to the meadow and woods of the earlier pages and show a human family enjoying the snow as the deer family from the first page grazes nearby. This quiet, dreamy narrative concludes with the backmatter, which explains not only cold, but also climate change. Enlarged snowflake patterns adorn the endpapers. One of the parents is light-skinned, while the other parent and the children are brown-skinned. Lovely.(Picture book. 3-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.