SNOW

When next you see a sky gray with clouds and a ring around a hazy sun, that is the time to listen to SNOW—at best, while also absorbing the Caldecott Honor illustrations from a printed edition. As Shulevitz captures the excitement of a first snowfall, unobtrusive narrator Sean Schemmel quietly reads the spare text. His tone is subdued and his pacing leisurely. Soft background music accompanies Schemmel, letting the illustrations speak for themselves. And speak they do! So much more happens than the text suggests—exuberant storybook characters frolic, radios and televisions talk, unimpressed citizens bustle along, and, all the while, the boy and his dog are on top of the world. A.R. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2010]