Snowbaby Could Not Sleep - Hardcover

Kara LaReau is a children's book editor and the author of Rocko and Spanky Go to a Party, illustrated by her sister, Jenna LaReau.

Jim Ishikawa is a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Formerly a creative director for Hello Kitty in Tokyo and San Francisco, Mr. Ishikawa is now a greeting-card artist for Hallmark.

PreS. "Snowbaby could not, would not sleep," no matter how many times his patient Snowmama and Snowpapa come bustling in to fulfill one of his many requests. Finally, Snowbaby admits that he is lonely, so his resourceful parents fashion an equally restless companion, Snowdoggie, whom Snowbaby knows just how to soothe. Although the story is slight, there are some clever touches (Snowmama tucks in her baby under a freshly packed blanket of snow, and papa says, "Sleet tight!"), and parents will appreciate the concluding emphasis on self-reliance in combating the sometimes-frustrating moments before slumber. Working in folk-art-style mixed media, Ishikawa, illustrator of Philemon Sturges' Waggers (2005), creates a lovable snow family, resembling a cross between gingerbread people and traditional carrot-nosed snowfolk, and houses them (appropriately enough) in a kind of igloo--though hairsplitters may question the stovepipe extending from the roof. An imaginative treatment of a common childhood issue, tailor-made for winter storytimes or for sharing before sleep on frosty nights. Jennifer Mattson
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