WHO WILL MAKE THE SNOW?

In this tale originally published in Ukraine, mole twins born on the first day of spring discover a generally welcoming world outside their burrow as the seasons pass.

Beech Forest is, by and large, a friendly place. Animal residents gather at the Under the Oak Café to peruse the gossipy Daily Mole, which Papa Mole compiles and types up, while Mama Mole makes quince jam and leads her large family, including little Purl and Crawly, out in autumn to sketch the changing trees while she plays her double bass. It’s not all ginger tea and nut cookies, though, particularly when an older sib’s illness prompts Crawly to ask, “Mama, what happens to moles when they die?” Her comforting if fanciful answer (they live among the clouds and make snow) leads later to a broader understanding that death happens to everyone, and a final observation to his (slightly) older sister that “the world’s a little tough, but it’s interesting this way….” In the colored pencil, gouache, and ink illustrations, moles and most of the other animals are furry black blobs with indistinct features, sporting random articles of human dress and posing either in comfortably furnished domestic settings or idyllic glades beneath shadowy trees. A stormy autumn flood provides some mild danger, but overall this short chapter book makes for cozy, peaceable reading for all its origins in a country currently at war.

Sweet but not saccharine, with occasional long thoughts buried in the fuzzy warmth.