Book Report: Counting on Snow

35. Maxwell Newhouse, Counting on Snow (2018) (12/24/18)

The other day I was in Santa Cruz waiting for a cousin to arrive—and what better place to wait than a bookstore! Especially Bookshop Santa Cruz, my favorite. I of course browsed the Best New Nonfiction bookcase, and the mystery shelves. And oh, what's this? A small stiff-paged children's book: Counting on Snow. Very simple in design and concept, it took me about two minutes to read—two absolutely delightful minutes.

As we count down from ten crunching caribou to one lonely moose, with owls, seals, wolves, and other northern animals in between, the snow begins and continues to accumulate, becoming a character too. The illustrations are all muted, so perhaps the book isn't perfectly suited to a child learning to count. But I found it beautiful. And the alliterative number-animal pairings are entertaining.

Sadly, no images of the interior spreads exist online, so I can't share those. But if you find yourself in a bookstore anytime soon, you might take a look and see if it's in stock. It's a quick read!