SNOW DOVES

Welcome to the neighborhood! A heartwarming entry to a winter wonderland.

Reminiscent of a vintage photo album, this wordless picture book situates readers close to the action as sympathetic witnesses to a child’s experience of having just moved to an unfamiliar place. As olive-skinned Sami looks out the window of a new home at an unfamiliar landscape, fear and anxiety manifest in the ominous, oversized shadow cast by a kitty cat belonging to neighbor Joy. (The children are unnamed within the book; monikers are supplied in jacket copy.) Joy appears similar in age to Sami and also appears to be a child of color, with thick, straight, jet-black hair and skin paler than Sami’s. Eager to show Sami around nature’s playground, Joy schleps to the newcomer’s house with warm clothing and accessories. Even though they do not seem to speak the same language, Joy’s gestures eventually encourage Sami to venture outdoors, albeit reluctantly. They play in the falling snow, go sledding, feed sunflower seeds to chickadees, and make snow angels that Sami envisions as doves. Muted, simple sketches capture the frost-veiled sunlight, rustic setting, as well as an idyllic faith in friendship and peace. The story’s wordlessness neatly decenters the presumption of a particular dominant culture.

Quaintly rendered nostalgia for the innocence and idealism of early childhood.