cover image So Much Snow

So Much Snow

Kristen Schroeder, illus. by Sarah Jacoby. Random House Studio, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-593-30820-2

In this seasonal day-by-day telling, sprightly rhymes chronicle two wintry weeks in which a snowstorm blankets a forest and then recedes. On Monday, Mouse spots the first flakes (“silent swirling”), and Rabbit paws at “flakes floating” on Tuesday. As each daybreak brings more snow, another animal (Fox, Wolf, Deer, Bear, and Moose) encounters the bluster, while an accompanying refrain wonders: “How high will it go?” By Sunday, only a single antler peeks from a mound of white, and then the story reels backward as each animal in turn emerges from the retreating accumulation (“On Monday, the sun starts to show./ Mountains melting./ Look, it’s Moose./ Hello!”) and toward, perhaps, springlike temperatures. Jacoby combines watercolors, pastels, and digital techniques for a soft and dreamy effect; alongside Schroeder’s effervescent prose, the book presents an atmospheric account of the vagaries of the natural world. Ages 3–7. (Oct.)