The weather has changed, and as we hurtle towards winter it's time for the seasonal books to come out. When I bought children's books for a library I was very sparing in my purchases of anything that would only be used once a year. It would have to be a very special book to get onto my list. This one wouldn't have made it, but it's an attractive book nonetheless and comes with a good pedigree: author and illustrator are both award-winning. Angela McAllister won the Red House Children's Book Award in 2011 and Grahame Baker-Smith won the Greenaway Medal in the same year for Farther. Their first book together, Leon and the Place Between, was short-listed for the Greenaway Medal in 2010.
Tom wishes that winter would never end, but the cold is having a terrible effect on his elderly grandmother. While Tom enjoys playing with a new-found friend who shares his love of snow and ice, his grandmother gets sicker. Eventually, Tom realises that his friend is Winter's Child, and for the seasons to go on they must say goodbye until next year. After pages of wintry illustrations (I feel cold just looking at them) the final spread is of Spring in all its glorious colour.
So - not an essential, but a pleasant modern fable on winter if you are looking to add to your collection of stories about seasons.
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