Review of Snow Horses: A First Night Story

Snow Horses: A First Night StorySnow Horses: A First Night Story
by Patricia MacLachlan; illus. by Micha Archer
Primary    McElderry    40 pp.    g
11/22    978-1-5344-7355-3    $18.99
e-book ed.  978-1-5344-7356-0    $10.99

On New Year’s Eve, young Jenny drives Percheron horses Tim and Tom from their farm to the market for a bustling celebration (“There is laughter and talk” is a refrain) and then back home; a dog gets the cozy last word. MacLachlan’s poetic text is hushed (“the sleigh makes a / whisper sound in the / snow—a comforting / swish, swish, swish”) but allows excitement to build (“in every window / of every house / there are little lights. / The town sparkles”). Archer’s illustrations, rendered in collage with homemade papers and inks, create luminous landscapes and invite poring over for details. A joyful, homey way to ring in the new year.

From the November/December 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

Shoshana Flax

Shoshana Flax, associate editor of The Horn Book, Inc., is a former bookseller and holds an MFA in writing for children from Simmons University. She has served on the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and Sydney Taylor Book Award committees, and is serving on the 2025 Walter Dean Myers Award committee.

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