Winter is coming, and five of the most darling penguins ever to tumble through picture-book pages are excited to get out into the snow. But first they have to dig out mittens, scarves, socks and boots, which they do in a flurry familiar to all who care for the very young: "Socks? One for each foot. What about boots? Red ones." And then the penguins are out the door and into snow that's "Deep. Deeper. Very deep." Mama is a benevolent presence in the background until four of the belly-sledding penguins pause in the vast whiteness to wonder where she is. "On her way!" ... along with the fifth penguin, who is just a little shy about exploring the snowy landscape without his fun-loving mother at hand (or flipper).
Readers of all ages will fall in love with the paint and cut-paper collages of Christian Robinson (Caldecott Honor book Last Stop on Market Street) and with the childlike text of Cynthia Rylant (Newbery Medal-winning Missing May). The keen-eyed will delight in catching details like the open window in the cozy igloo; the abacus and globe on the boot rack; and the yellow-scarfed, round-headed timid one now making snow angels while the rest of the siblings cluster around Mama on their way back inside for jammies, warm cookies and sippy cups. It's impossible not to draw happy comparisons to Ezra Jack Keats's The Snowy Day, nor to feel sweet, sweet nostalgia for an age when winter is nothing but magic. Rejoice! A classic picture book is hatched. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor