I Want Snow!

After receiving a postcard from the South Pole, a young princess decides she wants snow to play in. There’s just one problem: it’s summer at her castle, and she isn’t satisfied with any of the staff’s “creative” substitutes for the real thing.

The protagonist princess comes across as petulant and spoiled in this narrative as she rejects replacement after replacement for real, cold, wet snow, but that’s exactly the point. Author-illustrator Tony Ross realistically captures the moments of a child throwing a tantrum when she cannot get what she wants. There is no direct moralizing in the story, and the princess does not quite get a comeuppance, but the ending feels just. The story can also be the start of a thoughtful conversation if parents would like to have a more direct discussion about the princess’s petty behavior. I Want Snow! feels refreshing and real and addresses some great questions about desires and gratitude without being overly didactic. Ross’s illustrations are characteristically a little gritty while offering surprising detail, and they add to the reader’s sense of the princess’s disgruntlement.