Ella, a pale-skinned girl who wears glasses, has recently moved into a white farmhouse idyllically nestled beside a red barn. While her mother unpacks boxes beside a roaring fire, Ella peers out a frost-covered window anticipating her grandfather’s arrival. Gramps arrives, clad in a red-plaid coat, and Ella rushes into the snow to embrace him. They ascend into a snowy forest for Ella’s very first solstice adventure. They hope to choose a holiday tree and wish on a solstice star, a family tradition observed for over a century, since “Ella’s great-great-grandparents bought the farmland.” After chopping down their tree, a snowstorm starts, and the pair ride a toboggan sled back to the farmhouse, even though Ella hasn’t made her wish yet. Will her first winter solstice observance be rendered incomplete? The natural calm of this book lovingly echoes Jane Yolen’s Owl Moon, as a family pair navigates simple yet sweeping blue and white landscapes dotted with details like raccoons snuggled in a tree trunk, deer gazing on curiously, and pairs of footprints and sled tracks in the snow. Ogren’s text captures the physical sensations of a winter hike: the “Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!” of tramping through snow, the “Shhh-shhh, shhh-shhh, shhh-shhh . . . PLOP!” as the tree falls. A winter story steeped in a secular, simple family tradition, and a gentle, beautiful read-together. VERDICT A tranquil glimpse of a wintry day, this is an impressively unembellished selection for seasonal collections.
—School Library Journal
A wintry solstice to remember.
Young Ella races from the house to greet Gramps, who has arrived with a toboggan. Gramps greets her with a big hug, and they set out with Ella’s dog through deep snow, past a farmhouse and barn, up a hill to a pine grove. These trees have been planted by Ella’s family for generations to be harvested at Christmas. Once Ella chooses the right tree, Gramps cuts it down and ties it on the toboggan. A dizzying overhead spread shows Ella dwarfed by the towering trees. Attentive readers will spot a fox, an owl, a pair of raccoons, a porcupine, and other animals throughout their journey. Ella is eager to make her first solstice wish, per family tradition, but Gramps tells her bad weather is coming and they need to return quickly. Disappointed, she settles onto the toboggan with Gramps, and they zoom back down the hill with a “swoosh!” and a “bumpity-bump!” As huge snowflakes fall, the pair carry their tree to the house where the rest of Ella’s family is waiting, while Gramps invents a unique way to fulfill their family tradition despite the blizzard. Ogren’s descriptive prose propels readers through the emotional beats of the narrative, complemented by Evans’ classic yet whimsical watercolor-esque illustrations, which use soft lines to evoke the very essence of New England winters. Characters present white.
A perfect choice for a fireside storytime.
—Kirkus Reviews
