NAMES FOR SNOW

A child’s question (“Mama, what is snow?”) launches a high-toned reply, illustrated with wintry, elaborately detailed rural scenes. Beach answers with a series of abstractions: in November, snow is “Welcome,” in April, it’s “Trickster,” in between those times, it’s “Sheet”—and at other points throughout the year, it’s “Kitten when it sleeps / in the crook of a window,” “Eyelet / when it embroiders spruce,” “Mother / when it dusts,” “Prayer,” “Tickle,” and “Magician.” Krupinski frames the text on alternating pages with scenes of a warmly dressed mouse family engaged in seasonal activities. The quiet verbal and visual rhythms makes this feasible bedtime reading, but children may wonder when Mama is going to get around to answering the question, feeling left out in the cold by what she does say. (Picture book. 6-8)