  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 12/01/2015 PreS-Gr 2—A girl trudges across the cold and seemingly colorless Arctic tundra with her grandfather, observing that in winter, everything is a shade of white: the blue-white of the tundra, the yellow-white of the polar bear, and the silver-white of the arctic fox. She wonders where all the color went… "Did the wind blow it away?" Ultimately, after much patience and a mysterious walk with others in their community, her secretive grandfather leads them to the swirling colors of the northern lights, which joyously "dance across the sky." While White's intricate watercolor and ink illustrations are impressive and Smith's poetic imagery thought-provoking (e.g., "Grandfather says hope is golden. You can only see it when you look into a snowy owl's eyes."), readers are never informed where the story takes place, nor the culture of the main characters. A younger audience may also find it confusing comprehending what it means to be a shade of white, particularly the reference to the faint and remote picture of the yellow-white polar bear. The last few pages of the swirling, glowing, swooping northern lights are impressive enough to inspire readers to see this natural phenomenon for themselves (if not through travel, then via a YouTube video). Still, a better read on the topic is Mindy Dwyer's Aurora: A Tale of the Northern Lights (Alaska Northwest, 1997), which includes some background information on this rare and fascinating subject. VERDICT A picturesque book that would be better appreciated with more clarity about its setting and culture.—Etta Anton, Yeshiva of Central Queens, NY - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 12/15/2015 One winter in the Arctic, a girl accompanies her grandfather through the snowy landscape. The dim, gray light leaves their surroundings colorless and drab. Every day, she longs for color, until, one night, she and her grandfather join their neighbors in trudging across the tundra. Atop a snowy mountain, they sit and watch the glowing, pulsing, colorful northern lights. After the lights fade, he carries her home. Inside their igloo, she paints the colors she has seen, flares of hope that brighten the Arctic winter. With sentences such as, “When you live in the Arctic in winter, everything is a shade of white,” the second-person text draws children into a setting that is, for most, unfamiliar terrain. Created with digitally enhanced watercolors and ink, the illustrations are inviting. In the two double-page aurora borealis scenes, sudden swirls of colors contrast vividly with the whites, grays, and pale hues on the preceding pages. This picture book is a quiet, appealing read-aloud choice for winter storytimes and classroom units on the Arctic. - Copyright 2015 Booklist. Loading...
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