In Reynolds's (The Name of the Child
) poignant, quietly hopeful picture book, a boy whose parents are getting divorced finds a way to bid farewell to his neighborhood. Benoit, making an impressive debut, uses a fine ink line to limn the wintry streets of a closely constructed mining town, where John lives with his mother and father, who mines nickel and silver. Her sepia-toned watercolor wash evokes a 1940s mood. Both author and artist convey the modest lifestyle of the miners, yet despite the "sagging front porch" of one house and John's own home's proximity to the slag heap, they all appear warmly clothed and sufficiently fed. Benoit's close-up portrait of father and son in a parting hug silently testifies to the pain the family feels. As snow begins to fall the night before John's departure with his mother, Benoit depicts the magical transformation of the small town; the houses turn snug and welcoming, and the smokestacks indeed resemble "kindly giants." Readers will believe that John could temporarily set aside his troubles and become inspired to leave a small gift behind for his neighbors. At times, the text grows wordy, but Reynolds gets the important details just right: as John makes a snow angel on Mrs. Wright's lawn, he thinks of a pair of gray mittens she made him and her dog, Queenie; when he creates his final two snow angels for Mother and Daddy, "the angels were close together, almost touching. But not touching." Ages 4-8. (Oct.)
