Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

We had a white Christmas!  I know that doesn't mean much to a lot of you, but for me, it was my first white Christmas, and for my little town, it's been the first white Christmas in 47 years!  So you can imagine, it was pretty special.  That and we've all had precious moments with extended family!

So the perfect book for such an occasion is Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (c. 1978).  Once again, Susan Jeffers gives us a breathtakingly beautiful book.  You must check out her interpretation of  Robert Frost's poem.

Jeffers lends an enchanting quality to Frost's quietly enthralling poem.  Frost's poem conveys the magical silence and deceleration to life's pace that a newly falling snow brings about.  Jeffers faithfully compliments the peaceful solitude captured by Frost's poem.  The text and illustrations in this book transports the reader into the allure of a snowstorm, bestowing a serene and spellbinding experience.

Readers, comment on which page or spread is your favorite.  It's a tough choice, isn't it!

The Nutcracker

I'm giving my mom all the credit for finding my favorite edition of The Nutcracker story, illustrated by Susan Jeffers (c. 2007).  Accordingly, she sat in Barnes & Noble for hours flipping through and reading various editions of The Nutcracker until she settled on this one.  Jeffers edits the original text (which is quite lengthy) to make it child friendly, and she intentionally illustrates it to reflect Tchaikovsky's ballet, making this a beautiful, age-appropriate gift for children.

Nana gave this copy to my daughter last Christmas to commemorate a momentous occasion: enjoying her first performance of the Nutcracker ballet with her momma.

What I like best about this book is how well Jeffers incorporates the ballet into the story, as you can see here.  Said daughter was quite delighted to find that the book mirrored what she had seen on stage.  Thank you Mom for such a delightful book; it's a real treasure!