Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell is the 2018 Caldecott winner. The book has no words, save for the word “school” on a building, sound effects like “whine” and “huff,” and a question mark hanging over a character when she’s wondering about something. Children as young as two will have fun as they and their parents interpret the illustrations together, and older children will love looking at the pictures and coming up with their own narrations.
The girl walks from school in the snow and further away, a wolf pack is out roaming. The wolves’ teeth and massive bodies show their might and potential to be fierce. The snowfall turns into a blizzard, and during the blizzard, a pup gets separated from the pack. The girl and pup plod through the heavy snowfall and meet each other. Moved by the pup’s whining and howling, the girl takes it back to the pack, following the sound of howling in the distance. The word “hoooooooooooooowwwllll” is written in small print, showing the sound as far away.
The girl goes through tough situations, like fending off a growling raccoon with a stick then creeping through the woods, her eyes darting while an owl screeches. As the word “hoowwwll” gets bigger and bolder in print, she comes closer to the pack, and then reaches the mother wolf. Her wide eyes illustrate her terror, especially as the mother stares back with widened golden eyes. The mother growls at her, but the girl lets the pup go, and the mother scruffs it and carries it off. The girl falls to her knees; her wide eyes and puff of cold breath hint that the fall is from relief.
She trudges home, with the mother wolf looking on. Her dog barks in the distance and distant flashlights pierce the darkness, indicating that she’s close to home, but she falls and stays on the ground, too cold to keep going. The pack discovers her and howls for help. The girl’s mother and dog find her and bring her home, and the book ends with her family snuggling together with hot drinks next to a roaring fire.
The girl in Wolf in the Snow is a great example of showing goodness to the world. While kindness isn’t always in reality rewarded with kindness, the book portrays the Golden Rule in action. The wolves saved the girl after she saved the pup. This is a cute and sweet story to be read during the winter or any time of year.
