Snow Children

PreS-Gr 1–When two snow children attend an ice festival, they notice that the creatures are melting because of the warm weather. Although Yuta and Yuna disagree about whether the warmth is a good thing, they decide to attend a meeting about the increasing temperature. The plight of the animals they meet en route–rabbits buried in an avalanche, polar bears stranded on ice floes, caribou unable to dig for food–convinces them that something must be done. But melting ice people, endangered animals, and heat are not enough to persuade everyone at the meeting. “I like my life the way it is. I’m not worried,” say the dissenters. When a refreshing snow begins to fall, however, even the naysayers realize that their world is too beautiful to ignore, and they agree to find a way to save it. The short, round snow people are full of expression, differentiated by their smiles or frowns and their accessories. The encroaching warmth is depicted by pale yellow and rose watercolor washes swirling around the icy landscape by day, in contrast to the night sky, illumined by brilliant northern lights. The text is a bit stilted and heavy-handed, but two introductory pages present some consequences of global warming, and the back pages offer many things even young children can to do help the planet. Pair this with Lisa Campbell Ernst’s Round Like a Ball (Blue Apple, 2008) to spark a discussion about the effects of climate change and what readers can do to help solve the problem.–Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT