In the past few years, I have become a big fan of illustrator Jane
Chapman, whose sweet paintings have graced the pages of many picture
books, including Bear Snores On, Bear Stays Up For Christmas, Bear Wants More, Bear's New Friend, Bear Feels Sick, Mortimer’s Christmas Manger and The Very Snowy Christmas.
Her most frequent collaborator is Karma Wilson, but she has worked with other authors as well. The Snow Angel
teams her up with Christine Leeson, who has half a dozen book credits
to her name. I hadn’t read her work before, but I want to now that I’ve
read this tender tale.
The book is eye-catching right from the
start, with the cover page featuring a white goose whose feathers are
augmented with glitter. Blue-green sparkles glint throughout the book,
adding an extra bit of magic to this endearing story. The goose is the
“snow angel,” so described by Sam and Daisy, the pair of mice who
discover her injured and separated from her flock. The two mice live
with their mother and, after collecting nuts and berries for their
Christmas dinner, they opt to play in the swirling snow, which leads
them to the goose.
While most of Wilson’s stories are written
in verse, Leeson sticks with prose here. The writing is simple but
artful as she describes the ways in which the mice offer aid to the poor
lost creature. It’s the illustrations that really make an impact here,
though. Chapman has a real knack for drawing expressively adorable
animals, especially mice. Meanwhile, the “angel” looks truly majestic,
especially in one gorgeous two-page spread in which she opens her wings
and flies off into the sunset.
This book reminds me a bit of
Aesop’s fable of the mouse and the lion. Of course, these mice are never
in any danger from the goose, but they certainly do demonstrate to her
that little friends may prove great friends indeed. A warm story of
hospitality and kindness, The Snow Angel is a fine addition to any Christmas shelf.
No comments:
Post a Comment