Korean graphic designer and illustrator Park Sun-jung makes her picture book debut with Snowfall, a (nearly) wordless adventure showcasing white fluffy snowflakes that somersault, whirl, wriggle, and wobble through the night skies into the wee hours. Eventually, gravity helps them softly touch down to blanket a city with a shimmering layer of icy white.
Park's opening spread cleverly introduces the scene from above, revealing a colorfully lit outline of roads and highways not unlike those in Seoul, where the Han River curves through Korea's dense capital. Cloud-like, roly-poly white puffs gently tumble toward the city below. All are anthropomorphized with stubby arms, short legs, and expressive eyes, each rotund body carrying the distinct mark of a multipronged snowflake. They're clearly enjoying their every-which-way descent, rolling, twirling, reaching, and relaxing as buildings, trees, parks, and bright streetlamps come into focus. The streetlamps' glow turns the tiny figures momentarily golden as they float onto a curious and rambunctious dog, who welcomes them with a smile. While some continue playing with the pup, others take to the frozen river, impressively skating, dancing, spinning, and sliding across the smoothly shiny surface. Still other marshmallowy figures perch, hang, balance, and roll on power lines, partially illuminated by a sign (the book's only text) that announces "snow sighting" in Korean. The icy-white floofs take every opportunity to entertain themselves--on branches, bus stops, flowerpots, even someone's forgotten teddy bear--until they're ready to claim well-deserved rests on fences, railings, and windowsills. They settle down as exhausted singles, pairs, and clusters, creating a beautifully calm, freshly covered snowy new daybreak.
Park produces her inviting spreads with mixed media (acrylic paints, pastels, and digital) and works mostly with a palette of white and ever-deepening blues, interrupted only by the warm glow of urban lights. She imbues joyfully energetic movement onto each unique snowflake as it lightly, weightlessly journeys down from the heavens. Park uses her final double-page spreads to pull the perspective farther away from the small figures, seamlessly melding the individual friendly snowflakes to create a pristine, peacefully blanketed cityscape. Snowfall's buoyant result is an immersive, interactive opportunity for even the youngest readers to independently, cozily delight in an enveloping snowfall... without the need to bundle up and brave arctic temperatures. --Terry Hong
Shelf Talker: Korean author/illustrator Park Sun-jung turns a winter's walk into a wordless picture book wonderland of dancing, twirling, tumbling, fluffy snowflakes floating down to envelop an evening cityscape.