A Song for Snow by Lita Judge (review)

In this followup to Hoot and Peep, Peep the owl is learning about winter from her big brother, Hoot, and she's especially fascinated by the notion of snow ("Does snow drop, ploppety splop, like the rain's song?"). Bubbly Peep gets tired of waiting ("I don't believe you. I think you just made it up"), but soon snow really does come and she realizes that "snow's song is silence." Peep decides bring her own songs to the wintry night as she and Hoot gambol in the snow until morning brings owl bedtime. The text, relying strongly on dialogue, gives the birdy sibs an engaging yet authentic rapport, and the sound effects offer fine possibilities for readaloud creativity. Watercolors "with a few digital finishing touches" are appealingly robust in their drafting of the huge-eyed owls, while softened backgrounds dominated by the blue night sky keep the vibrant birds from becoming garish; viewers will especially enjoy following the antics of the other animals, especially the perky little mouse. Use this as a bedtime book for the night before a snowy weekend morning, when anticipation is at its peak. DS