Winter Waits
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REVIEW BY MARGARET FEINBERG
If you lived in Maine, owned a home with a 700-foot driveway that needed to be shoveled during the winter months and wrote children's stories, what would you title your next book? Lynn Plourde chose Winter Waits. Call it natural intervention. Call it wishful thinking. You can even call it chillingly appropriate. But if you're smart, you'll call it what it is: great writing. Plourde is the author of the best-selling picture book, Wild Child, and anyone with a hint of discernment knows she was one herself. Fortunately, she hasn't lost her rambunctious desire to play or ability to swirl the passions of the young (and old). It's obvious she never lost her child-like heart, and with a few healthy doses of Winter Waits, neither will you. This cool new book continues the story of Nature's family. While Winter waits for his daddy, Father Time, the chilly but enchanting son entertains himself with frozen delights ranging from ice sculptures to snowflakes. In the process, he provides a snugly, warm read for bedtime children. Written in deliciously even-paced rhyme, the simple word plays prove to be a parent's delight. While Winter waits, he "snizzles and snips" his design and "whizzles and whittles" various mountainside nooks. (Anyone who can use so many double Zs deserves a round of applause.) In the end, Winter gives a special frozen creation to his father who greets him with a tear in his eye. The result is a scrumptious, non-tongue-tying book that reflects a father-son relationship. But there's no reason to dig too deeply. Unless you're a literary guru with an overly active imagination, there's no moral to the story, deep life lesson or hidden agenda. It's just good, old-fashioned storytelling. But there's more to any successful children's picture book than its author. And in this case his name is Greg Couch. As the illustrator of several picture books, including The Cello of Mr. O and the soon to be released I Know the Moon, he brings the story to life with creative but easily believable artwork. The paintings blend various hues of blue and white into a winter wonderland. Winter is portrayed as an enthusiastic elf-looking creation tucked in a bathrobe, and Father Time has one eye that is a clock -- though it oddly tick-tocks from right to left, depending on the page. Overall, Winter Waits is playful enough to enjoy year-round -- even if you live in Florida. Margaret Feinberg shoveled more than her fair portion of snow growing up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She recently moved to Colorado Springs where the winters are a bit milder.
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