Snow Pair: Quiet Bunny and the Noisy Puppy by Lisa McCue

QUIET BUNNY WOKE UP ONE MORNING TO FIND THE FOREST BLANKETED IN SNOW.

"I WISH I HAD SOMEONE TO PLAY WITH IN THE SNOW," THOUGHT QUIET BUNNY.

Quiet Bunny heads out to find someone to romp with him in the snow. But Mother Bear, with apologies, opts her boy out to begin his winter hibernation, and Bunny's mallard fans seem to have all flown south.

But snow fun is no fun without a friend to share it with, and Bunny is dejected until the silence of the snowy wood is broken by a very loud interloper:

"ARF ARF ARF ARF! GRRRRR! RRUFF! ARF!"

Quiet Bunny is in a quandary. This noisy critter is obviously friendly and wants to play in the snow with him. But he's so NOISY! What's a quiet-loving little bunny to do?

Owl has some timely wintertime advice:

FARM ANIMALS ARE DIFFERENT, BUT WE ARE ALL ANIMALS.

YOU CAN BE DIFFERENT AND STILL BE FRIENDS.

They are definitely different, but the two become winter playmates, sliding across the pond and playing tag in the snowbanks, until spring forces Puppy to go back to work on the farm and Bunny's old buddies are back and ready to join him again.

Just in time for the first big snowfalls of winter is Lisa McCue's latest, Quiet Bunny & Noisy Puppy (Sterling, 2011). McCue's story is cozy and nostalgic, recalling the "Little Golden Books" of yore, with friendships formed and adventures attempted with their cute little animal friends,but her artwork, done in full but not garish color and highly detailed skill, is a cut above those familiar stories. McCue's other books in this series are Quiet Bunny and Quiet Bunny's Many Colors.