Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara

September 2009, MacMillan Children's books
32 pages, Hardback
Review copy

Childen's

Clouds: 3
Pencils: 5
Smiles: 3
Tissues: 1
Yunaleska's recommended rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

This beautiful blue and white book, far from making me feel cold, has me feeling warm and toasty. I can imagine being curled up on the sofa, with hot chocolate reading this as snow (or, as is common in England) rain falling down outside. The silver *shiny* title on the front page fits with the nature of the story, as do some of the snowflakes which are in silver too.

The story follows an unnamed boy who meets Jack Frost. At first Jack Frost is over confident and doesn't believe the boy can catch up to him. But the boy uses his intellect, and once he gets close to Jack they play together. Anything goes, the only rule is the boy mustn't mention any warm words. Will the boy be able to play by the rules?

This is a sweet story of how we get ice, snow and frost, how the world is turned into a magical wonderland with new sports (skating, snowball fights, snowmen building). The illustrations took my breath away. They are simple, always on a blue background. Whether the illustrations are white or black, they are simple in design yet striking on the page. It reminds me of pictures which are created on sheets of paper with two layers of colour. I can't quite remember the exact technique, but when one layer is etched away, it leaves the second colour as the picture. This method gains my appeal as much as highly colourful or detailed illustrations.

A great book for Winter, more so for those who live in snowy regions.

Liked this? Try When The World Is Ready For Bed by Gillian Shields