Who Will Make the Snow?

September 18, 2023
This cozily domestic chapter book by married team the Prokhaskos opens on the first day of spring, when twins Crawly and Purl are born to an already sizable mole family. Papa Mole writes for forest newspaper The Daily Mole; Mama Mole plays the double bass, “studied various languages, grew orchids, jumped on a trampoline”; and Crawly and Purl’s siblings provide companionship. Low-key forest adventures follow in seven chapters, accompanied by lively discussion. Papa Mole finds a strange egg, and two birds swoop in to save the chick that hatches; Purl learns to swim and saves a small mole in the river; and the family takes in a leveret born out of season. The title refers to a philosophical debate: Mama says that after moles die, “heavenly moles make the snow,” a group of owlets, meanwhile, believe that their ancestors make it. While a character called Mute Marten sells “exotic” African fruits, chatty, seasonally focused text translated by Dralyuk and Croft describes a world in which conflict stays largely mole-sized and manageable, while softly colored, scribbly line drawings provide glimpses of mole home life, including neat lines of drying underwear and a simmering cauldron of quince jam. Ages 7–11.

December 1, 2023
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 Caf� 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. (Animal fantasy. 7-9)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 22, 2023

Gr 2-4-In this charming illustrated chapter book about woodland creatures, a family of moles is celebrating the birth of their 13th child, a daughter. The family follows traditional roles with the father working as a newspaper reporter and the mother caring for the large family. The mole children have many escapades through the seasons, such as hatching a hawk egg, discovering how to sled, and making jam. In roughly 250 words per page, and chapters that act more as vignettes than as stories that tie together, the story is mostly how the woodland creatures children play with each other and interact with adults throughout the community. The illustrations, done largely with layers of colored pencil shading, add depth to the pleasant world of the woodland creatures' small town. Translated from Ukrainian, the language and the lifestyle in the book feel more small-town European than urban American. VERDICT Recommended for communities that enjoy slow-paced, slice-of-life stories about small-town community living.-Vi Ha

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.