Pair it with Carolina Rabei's stunning illustrations, however, and Snow is now a poem I will revisit again and again. It's also one my daughter has grown to love after reading this book only a couple of times.
Rabei's simple palette of black, grey, red and brown is inspired. Her illustrations leap from the snowy page as we follow a family putting the final touches on their Christmas preparations. A solitary robin sits on a branch, observing the town, as 'No breath of wind, no gleam of sun, still the white snow whirls softly down.'
At last, the kids are in bed and all is dark. Now Santa arrives with his team of reindeer, 'whispering, rustling, through the air'. After the morning scramble to open presents, everyone runs outside to discover that the snow 'of every tree a mountain makes'. Until at day's end, once again, the robin keeps watch over a sleeping town.
This is a truly wonderful celebration of snow, Christmas and the magic we can create with words and pictures.
Title: Snow
Author: Walter de la Mare
Illustrator: Carolina Rabei
Publisher: Faber & Faber, $24.99 RRP
Publication Date: December 2014
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780571312191
For ages: 4+
Type: Picture Book
