THE SNOWFLAKE

The stories of a snowflake and a girl named Noelle collide when the snowflake lands on Earth.

When the snowflake first starts falling, she resists. A cloud assures her that falling is what she is made for, but the snowflake doesn’t want to. Meanwhile, far away, a White girl named Noelle walks home with her grandpa, wondering if it will snow. The snowflake continues to tumble through the air, whisked onward by the wind, passing streams and then buildings with windows, including one with a tree topped with a brightly gleaming star that catches her attention. The snowflake longs to be that star. Walking through town, Noelle sees the tree too and wishes she could have one like it. Instead, she finds a branch. While the snowflake keeps flying through the wind, passing other snowflakes, Noelle decorates her little branch as a tree and sets it outside on her windowsill. She goes to bed still hoping for snow, and by morning, both Noelle and the snowflake have found their wishes come true. The sweet, gentle illustrations use a varied blue palette dotted with pink, yellow, and red to draw readers into the cold winter nights of the “town nestled between the hills.” The anthropomorphic snowflake and hopeful Noelle are equally endearing, and their joined resolution feels just right. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Hope and patience are rewarded in this cozy holiday tale.