I’m Going to Build a Snowman

When an adorably compact child shown with brown skin awakens to find snow falling outside, they react excitedly. “MOM!” the child yells, nose in the curtains next to a wall decorated with the hand-drawn image of a smiling snowperson. Now they can build “THE BEST SNOWMAN EVER!” Starting with what seems like a quiet hat tip to the simple forms of Ezra Jack Keats, Awan (Strum and Drum) renders comic strip–like action as the child bundles up (“ziiiip... fwump”) and heads outside. In fanciful monochromes, an instructional interlude (“Start by rolling a snowball until it becomes a perfect circle”) leads to a dreamy sequence in which a picture-perfect snowperson becomes a song-and-dance partner before the two “fly off into the clear night sky.” Back on the ground, the real building starts, resulting in a lopsided figure before it’s “time to decorate!” A page turn reveals a snowperson that’s significantly different from the ideal, but after making a single adjustment, the child is satisfied with “MY BEST SNOWMAN YET.” The sunny protagonist accepts their creation in all its reality, and readers can, too, in this exploration of a maker who gleefully accepts their own work. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)