THE BIGGEST, BEST SNOWMAN

This funny winter’s tale from Cuyler features a girl who needs a boost of confidence to get past the teasing of her overwhelming, overbearing mother and sisters. When Little Nell asks if she can help prepare for a party being given by BIG Mama, BIG Sarah, and BIG Lizzie, she is turned down: “No, you can’t. You’re too small.” “Yes, I can, and no, I’m not.” “No, you can’t, and yes, you are!” Little Nell takes refuge in the woods that surround her house, where her forest pals—Bear, Hare, and Reindeer—provide the support that is absent on the home front. They combine forces to build a BIG snowman, which towers like a colossus in the snowy woods. It even impresses her dismissive mother and BIG sister Sarah when Little Nell brings them to see her achievement. BIG Lizzie adds a note of sibling realism, by sticking “her BIG nose in the air—HMMPH!” Hillenbrand’s comic exaggerations put both the characters and the landscape powerfully in place. (Picture book. 4-7)