'S No Go for Snow! No Snow for Christmas by Jill Kalz

FAWN BRAUN HAD NEVER BEEN SO WORRIED.

TOMORROW WAS CHRISTMAS EVE, AND ALL OF PFEFFERNUT COUNTY LAY BROWN, DULL, AND DUSTY.

Fawn is a fretter.

Apparently it's been a warm and dry fall in her little town on the prairie, and though the downtown diner and the dry goods store are decorated for the holiday, Fawn is in a funk because there's no snow in sight.

She's got a point. It's not your postcard-pretty scene.

DRY WEEDS POKED FROM THE DITCHES LIKE OLD BROOM BRISTLES...

Pfeffernut County is definitely lacking in winter wonderland awesomeness.

A STRAWMAN INSTEAD OF A SNOWMAN?

DIRT ANGELS INSTEAD OF SNOW ANGELS?

Fawn grumps to her mother about it. 'S no problem, Mom maintains.

"THE SNOW WILL COME WHEN IT'S READY."

The rest of the townspeople seem not too concerned, but Fawn is a proactivist.

She addresses the town meeting with her take on the big problem, pointing out that in her considered opinion, unless they act Christmas will skip right over the county and settle on their rival, Hoogledoo Falls.

Christmas will be a dust bust!

With intra-city status at stake, the mayor calls for a committee--a meeting at Fawn's family's farm to formulate action plans for snow-making.

The concerned citizens show up with their alternatives. Louie blows crushed chalk, flour, and powdered sugar on the ground, but Fawn finds it little better than the dust they already have to deal with. Farmer Cap and his bi-plane crop duster drop popcorn. Not soft and fluffy like snow, says Fawn. Other farmers roll out the combines and blow cotton balls and marshmallows all around. Fluffy, but not sparkly, Fawn scoffs. Little Lina blows bubbles. But not cold, Fawn complains.

But, as we know, in the way of stories, Christmas can come without a Santa Claus, without presents, and definitely without snow, and despite fussy Fawn, Christmas comes to Pfeffernut County right on time in Jill Kalz's No Snow for Christmas (Pfeffernut County) (Capstone, 2015) and it was. . .

...THE MERRIEST EVER SEEN!

Kalz's tale is a pointed little parable about being a perfectionist about Christmas, and artist Sahin Erbocak uses a variety of perspectives and some vintage scenes of farmhouses and two-toned, tail-finned Buicks to set the quaint rural scene as Fawn learns that she can count on Christmas even if it's a no go for the snow.

Share this one with a couple of the classics of calamitous Christmases threatened with a closing, Phyllis McGinley's The Year without a Santa Claus and Dr. Seuss's evergreen How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Classic Seuss).