Aggressively digital illustrations and a MacGuffin of a plot send a little boy on a monumental seek-and-find adventure on a snow day. A series of rhymed and heavily exclamation-point–ed notes from Tommy’s Aunt Jeanne lead him out of the house and through the town, passing tableaux of colossal snow sculptures, northern woodland animals, ice climbers and more. Planted in each illustration are (according to the key) 108 “special six-pointed snowflakes,” individual letters that when combined spell “Happy Snow Day,” the word “snow” in 16 languages (including “Eskimo”) and more. The sharp planes of these digital collages offer little warmth, but there’s no question there’s plenty to look at in these pages. Once consumed, however, it’s not likely kids will return to this busy and ultimately plotless book. (Picture book. 4-8)
