IT FEELS LIKE SNOW

All of Alice's fellow senior citizens say she's a "silly old woman" because she firmly believes her throbbing bones and joints are harbingers of snow. But she's right. When her toe throbs, it snows ankle-deep; when her nose tingles, the flakes reach everyone's knees. When a blizzard socks in the town, she alone is prepared, but takes no satisfaction in being proved right yet again. She invites everyone over for hot soup and a cozy fire, and her unstinting hospitality prompts apologies from her friends and forges a consensus: "No one ever again thought of her as a silly old woman with nothing to do but worry." Although kids may not naturally gravitate toward a book populated chiefly by cranky elders, they will likely be able to identify with someone who's "tired of being laughed at... tired of being ignored." Cote's (illustrator of The Can-Do Thanksgiving ) cartoony illustrations give Alice an eager smile, whimsical wardrobe (a big red hat, bunny slippers, gaily patterned clothing) and a menagerie of pets—including a hearth-loving cow—all of which help make her an inviting reader-surrogate. Ages 5-up. (Oct.)