Review by Booklist Review
PreS. "Just outside my window, / There are tracks in the snow. / Who made the tracks? / Where do they go?" Keen to find out, a little girl follows the tracks throughout her rural neighborhood. Yee cleverly lets the white of the paper stand in for snow, rendering the other elements in soft colored pencils and an almost pointillistic style: ice-blue footprints; woodland flora and fauna in muted browns and grays; and the little girl herself, whose bright-red hooded coat (reminiscent of Peter's in The Snowy Day) adds cheer to the otherwise muted scenes. The singsong text, however, isn't quite as effective; certain lines ("Is that a hippopotamus?") serve the demands of the rhyme scheme more than they advance the story. Even so, this unassuming book will be enjoyed for its petite trim size, its wintry charm, and the gently humorous solution to its small mystery: the girl finally realizes that the tracks were made yesterday by someone she knows very well--herself. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2003 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"Just outside my window,/ There are tracks in the snow./ Who made the tracks?/ Where do they go?" A girl in a bright red coat and striped scarf has great fun trying to solve the mystery, since it requires that she ramble all over the winter wonderland around her home. Working in a diminutive scale that feels just right for the book's small format, Yee (Fireman Small) follows his heroine as she probes the hole of a hibernating woodchuck (a cutaway view reveals the animal snuggled in its underground burrow), and investigates the bare branches from the vantage point of making a snow angel. Then, suddenly overwhelmed by the snow and cold (even though most of her face is swaddled in the scarf, Yee's droopy eyelids convey her fatigue), she has a revelation about the footprints that will bring a smile to readers of all ages. The author's rhymes may be workmanlike ("My feet are getting oh so cold./ There's still no sign of it./ And even though the time is late,/ I really hate to quit"), but the artwork more than compensates. Thanks to Yee's austere, feathery strokes, which resemble colored pencils on textured paper, readers will feel all the invigorating chill and quiet beauty of winter. Ages 2-6. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-A little girl bundled in her red coat, striped scarf, and blue mittens follows mysterious tracks in the snow, wondering who made them. She goes out across the yard, along a frozen pond, over a snowy bridge, and into the woods. Ultimately, the trail leads her home and she realizes that she made the mystery tracks the day before. The gentle, rhyming text makes an ideal read-aloud, and young listeners will chime in on the repeated phrases. The soft-focus, colored-pencil illustrations portray a small Asian girl exploring her safe world, but a world transformed by the fresh snowfall. The child happily makes angels in the snow and slides down a small hill on her adventure. The cozy ending, complete with tea and cookies in a snug, warm kitchen, completes this tender celebration of the season.-Shawn Brommer, South Central Library System, Madison, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Preschool) A young girl heads out into the snowy woods by her home all bundled up in a red hooded jacket. But unlike Red Riding Hood, this little girl is the one in pursuit: ""Just outside my window, / There are tracks in the snow. / Who made the tracks? / Where do they go?"" She follows the tracks through the woods, only realizing upon returning home that the footprints are her own, made the day before. Preschoolers will chuckle, even if they've already had a clue: the girl doesn't recognize the mitten she finds in the woods, but careful viewers will notice it matches her scarf; on a repeat reading, they might spot the other mitten inside the girl's home. Kids will also enjoy pointing out the various animals -- fox, deer, owl, and more -- that apparently go unnoticed by the girl, so intent is she on her mission. The simple rhyming text encourages chanting along; Yee's colored pencil illustrations are meticulously drawn and allow the texture of the paper to show through, providing a quiet softness for this gentle, cozy winter tale. Pair this snowy day story with the other one about a red-snow-suited child; as with Ezra Jack Keats's Peter, it's always nice to see a child of color (Yee's girl is Asian American) in a book that isn't focused on ethnicity. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
