Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Henkes and Dronzek return with this third seasonal tribute now for the cold time of year. Gorgeous blue-and-white endpapers dotted with snowy mittens, done in full-color acrylics, precede a lively double-page spread showing families skating, building a snowman, and sledding, while animals frolic in the snow. As snow falls from the sky, a red-coated child waves to friends in front of his icicle-roofed house, while his little brown dog peers out the window. Snowflakes softly cover a great horned owl, snuggling birds, and nesting rabbits. An appealing series of pictures shows the boy donning boots with zippers, vests with zippers, and jackets with zippers, wryly underscored by humorous text: It can take a long time to get ready for winter. The wind howls in every language, and winter's hues are white, gray, and blue, blue, deep blue. The gentle repetitions continue as winter stays and stays and stays, until it finally shrinks away and slips around the corner into a gorgeous, green spring. Here again, in a luscious green-and-pink full-color spread, families play in the same space, but boats float on the melted pond, kites fly, and children scoot and stroll and play, followed by yellow endpapers depicting spring flowers. The large format, language, and pictures merge in a just-right read-aloud for fans of winter's charms.--Lolly Gepson Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Another must-have seasonal picture book created through the amazing collaboration of Henkes and Dronzek. Here they describe winter and its many delights, such as its natural beauty, and the opportunity for people to ice skate and sled down pillowy hills. The cold and ice also present challenges, like dressing in layers full of snaps and buttons, scarves and hats. It can be quiet and peaceful yet it can be loud and fierce. It is white yet is often dark. Winter lasts a while, but peels away to reveal the beauty of spring. The text is smooth and uncomplicated yet interesting and engaging. The descriptive word choice is able to set the scene perfectly with so few words, and the soft illustrations match and enrich the text seamlessly. The acrylic paintings not only portray the wonder and beauty of a large snowfall but they also evoke a feeling of warmth and peaceful comfort. The diverse array of animals in preparation will entertain readers and leave them curious to the very end of the story. VERDICT Bundle up for this wonderful wintry tale of all of the highs and lows that the season has to offer.-Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE © Copyright 2018. 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
In their third picture book about the seasons (When Spring Comes, rev. 3/16; In the Middle of Fall, rev. 11/17), Henkes and Dronzek present a lyrical ode to winter and its many moods. The text, marked by a gentle rhythm, uses descriptive language to bring the season to vivid life and capture its wondersincluding figurative language (the leaves under the ice that covers a pond are likened to stars in glass) and personification (Henkes describing winter as reaching through branches and crouching in doorways). With gentle, expressive acrylics, Dronzek here depicts families enjoying the snow, as well as peaceful outdoor scenes where the snow settles softly. The tone shifts midway through the book, however, marking the ways we endure winterthe ice, the frequent shoveling, and even the layers of winter wear required in order to head outside. The book also captures the contradictions of the season, noting that winter comes without a sound (as snow falls) but is far from silent, with wind that howls in every language and rattles windows. Throughout, Dronzek keeps her compositions uncluttered, with wide brushstrokes and nuanced shades of blue dominating the palette. Spot art occasionally accelerates the action, but expressive full-bleed spreads steal the show, especially at the books close when winter shrinks away bit by bit and glorious, full-color spring arrives. Readers will be left hoping that a story about summer will round out this vibrant collection of books celebrating the natural world. julie Danielson (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Complementing When Spring Comes (2016) and In the Middle of Fall (2017), a picture book that celebrates the winter season.In small bites of text that allow pauses for readers to savor the illustrations and to connect with their own winter recollections, this accomplished picture book details the season of winter. Henkes' text is simple but evocative, observing winter in perceptive and sometimes-playful detail. Dronzek's acrylic illustrationspresented in a variety of double-page spreads, spot illustrations, and single-page imagesenrich and deepen the text as they add story details and warmth with their saturated colors and masterful line. An amusing series of spot illustrations punctuated with perfect text engages readers in the laborious chore of dressing for winter ("Boots and zippers / and vests and zippers / and jackets and zippers"). The opening double-page spreada park in winter with people of various skin tones sledding, building a snowman, skating, talking, and walking their dogsbecomes the grounding point for the story. As the story meanders along (in a very good way), readers will recognize the pond, the house, the child from the opening illustration, which deepens the overall narrative. When, at the story's end, winter becomes spring, the same park scene is shown but now with blooming cherry trees and green grass, and so the cyclic nature of the seasons is visually emphasized.A polished, playful story in which words and pictures dance in perfect harmony. (Picture book. 2-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
