Flurry, Float, and Fly!: The Story of a Snowstorm
by Laura Purdie Salas; illus. by Chiara Fedele
Preschool, Primary    Bloomsbury    40 pp.
11/25    9781547603503    $18.99

Salas (Zap! Clap! Boom!: The Story of a Thunderstorm, rev. 1/21) turns her lyrical meteorological observations toward an impending snowstorm, as two children (and some forest animals) scan the sky above their rural home. From anticipation (“Clouds lie heavy, gray, and low. / From down below, / just one wish: / SNOW!”) and waiting (“On the ground, / the sledders sigh”) to first flakes and subsequent squall, the text combines brief and accessible scientific detail with wonder and an alliterative refrain: “flurry, float, and fly.” Digitally edited watercolor, gouache, and colored-pencil art captures the heaviness of the air before a storm, with vast swirls of clouds and from varying perspectives, and then zooms in on individual flakes before the snow begins to fall in earnest. The sky’s ever-changing hue is true to life, culminating in a soft morning light that beckons the family outdoors to greet their neighbors and enjoy a day trudging up—and then zooming down—a sledding hill. An appended “Science of Snow” section provides diagrams; sources; and books, videos, and websites “for further exploration.”

From the November/December 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.