The Voice of the Snow is an exuberant, impeccably child-centered story by Yuko Ohnari and Koshiro Hata, the creative duo behind Downpour, and translated from the Japanese by Emily Balistrieri. The picture book features a child who revels in the wonder of a snowy day by focusing on the joyful sounds--and silence--of the snow.
"It is so bright outside my window that it woke me up.... Snow!" Through the child's window, it looks as if everything is "sleeping under a fluffy blanket." They pull on a red jacket and oversize hat and then go outside, where their breath shows "white in the air." As the kid takes the first boot-sinking step, "the snow says, 'Pfffft.' " Then the bundled-up child begins a trek across the yard, and the snow responds: "Pfft, squeak. Pfft, pfft, squeak, squeak." The snow "is laughing!"
The child makes a huge snowball--"huff-puff, huff-puff"--and the snow counters with "creak-eak, creak-eak." The kid throws the ball into the "sooo cold" air and it breaks apart, hitting the ground with a sound like "crumb, crumb, crumb... Pock, pock, pock." When their "voice gets sucked into the snow," the world goes silent: "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh." The flakes "scatter and dance," then laugh again as the little protagonist stomps into deep spots. After they take a tumble, they're delighted to make snow angels: "crunch, creak-creak-creak, ha." When the child is flat in the snow, "distant sounds vanish. All I can hear is the snow right next to my ears. It's... talking only to me." On this quiet, magical morning, both the young adventurer and the snowflakes are "listening closely."
The creativity of this storytelling technique gives the picture book's observations a tactility and sense of immediacy. Much of the child's cavorting through the wintry backyard landscape is told through Ohnari's avalanche of onomatopoetic interpretations. The writing is spare and confident, and Balistrieri's translation feels as poetic as it does enthusiastic. Hata's illustrations pull equal weight, depicting the youngster's tramp from their front yard into a neighboring empty lot and back home, where an adult waits. The white space serves purpose and keeps eyes on the protagonist and their play, while soft blue skies and sparse background create a feeling of solidity. These wonder-filled pages should inspire all varieties of wintertime listening. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author
Shelf Talker: The Voice of the Snow is an exuberant, child-centered picture book romp through the joyful sounds--and silence--of a bright snowy day.