OLIVER AND AMANDA AND THE BIG SNOW

The pig siblings are off in another Easy-to-Read adventure, this time enjoying a snow so deep that it is over Amanda's head. Big brother Oliver is into snowballs and sword-cicles, while his little sister prefers snow angels and magic wand-cicles, but both can enjoy defending a fort, sledding down hills, and building a snow pig. Van Leeuwen (Across the Wide Dark Sea, p. 1437, etc.) provides tales simple enough to be enjoyable, with just enough story to retain interest. While they are true to so-called traditional family life—with sibling rivalry between young and old and a mother and father in standard roles—there are also surprises: Mother not only offers warm cookies from the oven and hot chocolate, but also makes snow angels, digs out and defends the fort from Father, and loves sledding. Schweninger's bright watercolor and pencil pictures are as cheerful and expressive as the stories themselves. In fact, this family's fun is enough to make even adults wish for a snowstorm. (Fiction. 5-8)