JOLLY SNOW

The appealing stuffed animals introduced in Old Bear (1987) explore the concept of snow: the inaccessible scene in a glass bubble and various kinds of pretend snow--including flour (too hard to get off), soap bubbles, paper snowflakes (merely decorative), the snippets left therefrom (better--really slippery), and, best, the feathers that burst from a cushion that they land in after sledding down a sheet. The one kind of snow these toys don't investigate is, appropriately enough, the real stuff they see through their window. A pleasant, gentle story with an unobtrusive message about the nature of play; Hissey's affectionate portraits of her lovable characters remain her greatest strength.