Ten Ways to Hear Snow by Cathy Camper (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Ten Ways to Hear Snow by Cathy Camper
Camper, Cathy Ten Ways to Hear Snow; illus. by Kenard Pak. Kokila/Penguin, 2020 [32p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780399186332 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593111239 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 4-8 yrs
A snow has blanketed the city, but Lina still decides to bundle up and head out to her grandmother's, since it's "grape leaf day," when they make the Lebanese dish of warak enab together. On the way over, Lina considers the neighborhood from her grandmother's viewpoint; since Sitti's eyesight is failing, she interprets the world through her ears, and Lina notices the different sounds, from the scrape of snow shovels to the giggle of friends planning to throw a snowball. Upon arrival at Sitti's home (an apartment in a retirement community), she starts cooking with her grandmother and learns a tenth way to hear snow, from the quiet it makes: "No noise is the sound that means it's snowing." Camper, inspired by her own Lebanese family, makes Lina a staunch heroine as she plows through the snow; the sounds she hears (such as "Ploompf!" and "Swish-wish, swish-wish") make for inviting and performative reading aloud. Pak's watercoloresque digital art is solid and accessible even in the snowy scenes, and it makes the most of Lina's fond family at both ends, especially in Lina and Sitti's playful visit. This cries out for a choral performance of the snow sounds, and it might prompt librarians to bring out Perkins' classic Snow Music (BCCB 12/03).
