FIRST SNOW

A little Korean child celebrates the titular first snow.

Bundling up in a white snowsuit, red scarf, and white-and-red mittens, the child tiptoes out of the house in the dark of night to be joined by a young white puppy. “Pat, pat, pat. / Roll, roll, roll.” The child makes a snowball and rolls it along, under streetlamps and the moon, next to an elevated train track, and into the woods. Here, spreads that have been dominated by night-sky black dotted with fluffy, textured snowflakes turn dazzlingly white, with snow-covered trees and mountains as background. In wordless spreads, the protagonist, now dwarfed by the giant snowball, is joined by other bundled-up children, in gray and black with red accents, with giant balls of their own. Together, they make huge, smiling snowmen, both filling a vast plain and floating in the sky before the page turns, and, abruptly, all readers see is the lone, first child isolated in the right-hand corner of the spread with tongue out to catch the flakes. Another turn of the page reveals the backyard with a modest, red-mufflered snowman next to the doghouse, leaving readers to wonder how much of the adventure was real. In her debut, Seoul-based author/illustrator Park captures the magic of the first snow, her limited palette and textured canvas creating a soft, welcoming world.

Readers will find themselves longing for the season’s first snow, too.