cover image Little Christmas Tree

Little Christmas Tree

Jessica Courtney-Tickle. Big Picture, $15.99 (12p) ISBN 978-1-5362-0311-0

In a wintry woodland, “snow has fallen everywhere/ and turned the green woods white./ A little Christmas tree wakes up/ and sparkles in the night.” The pine is colored in mottled shades of green and lightly textured with shiny silver flecks. A swan, black bird, and other animals fill the vertical pages, while flaps shaped like snow drifts, bushes, and trees lift to reveal hidden animals, foliage, and even a bumble bee under a log—each animal or object identified on the flaps’ undersides. Courtney-Tickle’s friendly digital illustrations teem with life, while the sparkly, snow-dappled trees and lift-the-flap surprises are pleasantly reminiscent of an Advent calendar. Ages 2–5. (Oct.)