Into the Snow

A young boy can't contain his excitement when he looks outside and sees snow. He bundles up and heads out, leading readers along on his adventures. Kaneko's use of descriptive language gives the reader a sensory experience of the child's world. Saito's illustrations, created with oil pastels, gouache, acrylics, and colored pencils, evoke the feelings and motion of the story.

"It's snowing!" A young boy can't contain his excitement when he looks outside and sees snow. He bundles up with the help of his mother and heads out, leading readers along on his adventures as he catches snow on his mittens, snaps an icicle from a tree branch, and climbs onto his sled for a ride. Kaneko's use of descriptive language -- snow "flittering and fluttering" and "Whoosh! Wheee!" as the boy speeds down the hill -- gives the reader a sensory experience of the child's world. Saito's illustrations, created with oil pastels, gouache, acrylics, and colored pencils, evoke the feelings and motion of the story. The softness and blur of hues capture the visual effects of a snowstorm. Snow swirls around the boy and pelts his face, giving a vivid sense of movement as he glides and spins on his sled, and then, stillness, as he lies on the ground, a big smile on his face and snow covering him "like a fleecy blanket." Patches of colors throughout -- the child's clothes, his rosy cheeks, his yellow sled -- brighten the white and gray snowy backgrounds. The oranges and browns of the final scene radiate the warmth of the kitchen and the hot chocolate the child shares with his mother. Pair this with Keats's The Snowy Day (rev. 2/63) to share the joys of winter with the very young. celia c. pérez