Snow Woman

McKee brings his avant-garde views on the question of gender to playtime. When Rupert says he's building a snowman, his father corrects him: ""You mean a snow person.'' And when Kate says she's building a snow-woman, her mother agrees with the terminology. The snowpeople are up, side by side, fully dressed. But, by morning, the snow couple have vanished, clothes and all. The kids resign themselves to building a snowbear insteadnot a man bear or a lady bear, but ``just a bear.'' There are several points of view to be argued here, but most everyone will agree that there is more to life than simple male/female categorizations. It is McKee's superb humorconveyed almost solely in the illustrationsrather than his intentionally ambiguous endingthat wins the day, particularly a series of hilariously inventive and often absurd framed pictures on the walls. Ages 6-8. (March)