I Wish It Would Snow!

A bunny in a woolly red sweater revels in the beauty and leafiness of autumn. But when the leaves finally carpet the forest floor in gold and orange—Dillard (Extraordinary Warren) draws every one of them individually to give a sense of how quickly abundance turns into excess—the rabbit is filled with fall ennui. “I need it to snow!” it says, throwing itself around in what looks very much like a tantrum. And the snow arrives. But the pretty swirling white dots soon blot out the wintry lavender sky, and the weather goes from catch-a flake-on-the-tip-of-the-tongue fun to bowl-one-over blizzardy (“When will it stop?”). Sledding with friends offers a momentary respite, but by then, spring is already on its way. Here we go again: “I wish it would snow,” the rabbit thinks anew, sneezing on the fresh flowers. Dillard’s array of compositional styles includes comics-like panels and an almost vertiginous high-angle view. And though magical thinking sometimes collides with the forces of nature, Dillard wisely chooses to give her protagonist a skewed resilience that’s both funny and absurdly admirable. For this rabbit, tomorrow’s always another day for yearning—and kvetching. Ages 4–8. [em]Agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (Dec.) [/em]