HEART OF A SNOWMAN

A little boy learns why snowmen always melt in this out-of-control surreal adventure. From a promising opening—“Owen knew that at the heart of a snowman is a perfect snowball. To make a perfect snowball, you need the powdery kind of snow that’s a bit melty”—the text spirals into a dream-trip to a snowman factory to which Owen is kidnapped. There he sees a series of animals unmaking his snowman under the direction of an unseen totalitarian voice that booms from a loudspeaker. Owen, they think, has the secret to making a perfect snowman, but when they realize it’s because the perfect snowball he contributes as its heart melts it from the inside, they give up. Yelchin’s visuals are interesting, if occasionally disorienting, but they cannot save this story from melting as thoroughly as any snowman. (Picture book. 5-8)