Snow Scene

Readers move through and out of winter in a series of seamlessly connected acrylic paintings on canvas—it’s unclear whether Seeger actually painted the book as one long continuous scene, but it sure looks that way. Jackson’s pithy rhymes create a kind of guessing game to accompany nearly every page turn. “What are these?” he asks, as readers are confronted with birch bark trunks at close range. “Trees.” A hint of black can be seen at the right edge of the next spread: “And those?/ Shadows./ Of crows.” Readers also discover children, the snowmen they build, and deer, but then, “Just seen?/ A hint of green.” The book surges into spring and summer, before closing with “winter’s hat,” a snow-capped peak. A simultaneously playful and meditative riff on how interconnected—and fleeting—the seasons are. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Nov.)