I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
In this lyrical picture book illustrated by a two-time Caldecott Medalist, share in a blind child's joyful experience of the changing seasons.
A SCHNEIDER FAMILY BOOK AWARD HONOR
Where I live, seasons change. I know because my fingers and toes, my ears, my mouth and nose, all tell me so.
Neveah is blind, but that doesn't mean she can't enjoy each of the four wondrous seasons of the year.
She knows it's winter when her boots go scruuunch in the snow and cold flakes land softly on her tongue.
She knows spring has come by the smell of hyacinths, the bzzzz of a bee in her ear.
Summer is a trip to the beach, where she can hear the crash of ocean waves and the keowww of seagulls overhead.
And when Neveah's rake goes scritch scratch over fallen leaves and the air turns brisk, she knows it's autumn. Soon the cycle of seasons will begin anew.
In this poetic story with art by a two-time Caldecott Medalist, join Neveah as she uses her senses of touch, taste, hearing, and smell to vividly describe the changing seasons and the unique delights they each have to offer.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rejoicing in the "wonders all around me," a speaker narrates the arrival of annual northern-hemisphere weather patterns as experienced via "my fingers and toes,/ my ears, my mouth and nose" in this lush calendrical chronicle, subtly penned by Milusich without reference to sight. "When a chill gust snatches my scarf/ and frost kisses my cheeks/ I know Winter's come," the youth explains, further perceiving the "Scruunnch" sound made by boots as "the snow creaks hello." Spring's hyacinths offer opportunities for tactile experiences ("I trace the curl/ of each thin waxy petal") and scent-based discovery ("I breathe in their prettiness"). The odor of "hot dogs, sunscreen, and peaches" defines a summertime trip to the beach, and autumn brings thingsfull circle via a whiff of "earth and leaves, apples and cinnamon." With his signature wavy markings, Raschka's watercolor and oil pastel artwork evokes nature's cycles as shifting color palettes connote the passage of time while capturing the loving relationship between parent and child. Protagonist skin tones echo pages' background colors. Ages 4–8.
