Sugar White Snow and Evergreens

August 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 2-Following the format of Pick a Circle, Gather Squares: A Fall Harvesting of Shapes (2013) and Cheers for a Dozen Ears: A Summer Crop of Counting (2014, both Albert Whitman), Chernesky again smoothly blends concepts, in this case colors, into a continuing series about a nuclear family. Here, they venture outdoors on a cold winter morning, without breakfast, to travel to Mr. Sweet's Famous Sugar Maple Farm. After joining neighbors and friends in a good natured snowball fight, the foursome traverses glittery white snow, leaving behind blue sleigh tracks. Arriving at the farm, the children spot silver pails collecting sweet sap and see boiling sap in the sugar shack. At the end of their journey, a farmhouse meal of rainbow colored foods, including pancakes and syrup, awaits the family. Written in easy rhyme, the mellow text pairs well with Swan's realistic artwork, which places the story in a lovely winter setting, reinforcing the color concepts in her indoor and outdoor scenes. The steely gray sky is mirrored in the family's morning clothing. Yellows bring warmth to the cold winter day. A red cardinal pops against a snowy landscape. Human faces seem stiff in comparison to the softer landscapes, animals, and carrot nose snowman. Names of different colors are printed in their respective colors, setting the words apart from the otherwise black text. This cordial story of a family spending quality time together is a decent choice for curricular use in lessons about winter, farms, or colors and will fit nicely into collections already including Chernesky and Swan's other seasonal concept books.-Lynn Vanca, Freelance Librarian, Akron, OH

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