THE SNOWMANSION

A child and a snowperson collaborate to build a snowy palace, culminating in a magnificent ball.

Right from the endpapers, readers are immersed in a wordless, wintry world. Inside a snug home, a child awakens in the middle of the night to a magical scene before going downstairs and opening the door. The youngster’s newly built snowperson beckons. After they frolic together, the child must eventually return inside, stranding the snowperson outdoors. Hatching a plan, the pair design, construct, and outfit a grand snow castle with rummaged windows, couches, even a chandelier. When completed, it’s so incandescently inviting that the town’s children and their snowpeople arrive to start a splendid community party. Fulfilled, child and snowperson slumber in their respective homes. The book owes a chilly debt to another frosty favorite, Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman, and these two tonally, structurally similar titles would pair perfectly together. Visually, Lim’s snowballing spreads and discrete square panels glide along smoothly. Divinely diaphanous watercolors communicate complex ideas without a word. Atmospheric cool icy blues, violets and indigos make the white snow, stars and glowing interiors feel cozily illuminated. The child is tan-skinned and dark-haired; there’s much diversity among the party guests.

Charmingly homey, in all the senses of the word.