WINTER’S TALE

One is hard-pressed to find appropriate superlatives for this wonderful new offering. This is Winter’s tale; it is spoken in the first person in crystalline language: “the snow shivers off a nearby bush,” as a rabbit leaps out, or “The water explodes in a fresh burst of silver / as breakfast escapes in a flash,” when an old bear startles the fish. For Sabuda, it almost goes without saying that the paper engineering is breathtaking. In each spread, a central image pops up—a great owl in the snow, a family of deer—and in a side fold a smaller story takes place—squirrels in the trees, beavers in the stream. Not only are white, browns, greens and blues used to great effect, but silver foil, both plain and dappled, and iridescent glitter make the pages dance. “When the earth turns to green,” Winter must go, but promises to return next year. The last opening finds all the characters—including Winter himself, a snowman with the carrot nose the rabbit brought him and the hat and scarf he waved at the moose—in a panorama of snowy trees and a glittering rooftop. (Pop-up book. All ages)