First Snow

In her debut, Korean artist Park captures the quiet mystery of snow. A small child with rosy cheeks and straight hair stirs under her quilt as she hears a noise: “Pit, pit, pit against the window. Glistening, floating in the night.” Alone, she dresses in the velvety darkness and ventures outside, her red scarf the only note of color in the black-and-white spreads. White, canvaslike texture peeks through the black paint in places, mimicking the way bright surfaces catch small amounts of light in the darkness. Outside, the girl sets to work making a snowman, rolling a snowball along dense urban streets, through a field, and past an elevated train line. In the forest, she passes through a light-filled opening into a realm of snowy fantasy, arriving at a place where children rise into the sky to fly with the snowmen they’ve made. Then, just as quietly, reality returns. Park’s artwork recalls the child portraits of mid-20th-century artists like Eloise Wilkin, but gives them new dignity with a somber palette. Together with the spare, unobtrusive text, the images evoke an atmosphere of enchantment. Ages 2–4. (Sept.)