Fox and Owl’s Winter Adventure

K-Gr 3–In the pre-dawn hours before anyone else is awake, young Ember fox and Flint the owl occupy themselves by making snow sculptures of each other. As the rosy glow of sunrise falls on their creations, Ember is sad to think that they will melt, but Flint reminds him that they will always have the memory of how much fun they had together. Mostly full-bleed illustrations in which a deep blue-gray and tawny orange predominate, a cozy woodland world of soft edges suits the baby animals. The story is slight and overly sweet, but listeners may engage with the two pages of facts about foxes and owls, craft instructions for making owls out of toilet paper tubes and snowflakes out of twigs, or a spot the differences between two pictures activity. This is the first in a projected series of four seasonal titles that combine a story with non-fiction facts, crafts, and games.