The Abdominal Snow Man! Annabelle and the South Pole by R. W. Alley

Winter has settled over the little Yankee seacoast town, and Annabelle with her book about polar regions is sweetly settled in the cozy window seat looking out at a ginormous snowman. Mitchell, Clark, and Gretchen, however, seems to be coming down with a serious case of cabin fever.

"Behold! I am the Wizard!" said Mitchell.

"Look! A scheming sorceress in her tower." said Clark.

"Save my roly-polys from her evil spells!" said Gretchen.

Annabelle stormed out!

She flees the Wizard, denying everything, heading out the front door into the snowscape where four cute penguins await her. But what is that rotund and horrifying sight approaching in the swirling snow?

The Abominable Snow Giant!

The big-bellied snow bully charges. Annabelle rallies, landing a well-placed snowball, knocking his nose askew, and sending his surprised head flying! Oops!

Annabelle and her penguins replace his snowy head, still somewhat awry, and in gratitude the tubby snow giant gives Annabelle a ride on his wide shoulders straight to the South Pole.

But what's this?

The claim to the Pole has already be staked out by the Mitchell and his minions. The Wizard of the World has also magicked up his cauldron of chocolate-flavored potion to ward off attacks.

"Too hot!" said the Snow Giant.

Fearing melting, the Snow Giant flees. But the unabashed Annabelle is unafraid. She snatches the potion and downs it in one long, chocolatey swallow.

So it's back to base camp for the whole lot of intrepid polar explorers, where their sturdy sled pooch naps on the sleigh with Gretchen while the rest down proper mugs of hot cocoa from their porch, and wonder how their snowman's head got upside down while they were away!

R. W. Alley finishes up the finale for his seasonal series in his forthcoming Annabelle at the South Pole (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016) with a polar quest, a snowball fight, and more fun in the snow with his four inventive and resourceful siblings whose imaginations create their own settings--spring, summer, fall, or winter. Charming illustrations with full-bleed, double-page spreads distinguish all the books in this series, whose characters can conjure up their own fun whatever the weather. Other books about the fantasy-loving four include Clark in the Deep Sea, Gretchen Over the Beach, and Mitchell on the Moon (Read my reviews of R.W. Alley's work here.)

Zen Socks by Jon J. Muth

Leo and Molly sat on the porch of their new home.

"Look," said Leo, "It's going to happen again!"

"Yep," said Molly. "It's almost time."

"What's his name again?" asked Leo. "Mr. Quietpuddle?"

"Stillwater," said Molly.

Of course, their neighbor is Stillwater, the philosophical giant panda, wearing striped socks instead of the Zen Shorts (Caldecott Honor Book) of an earlier book, this time acting as mentor to the new kids on the block, Molly and Leo.

"Hi, Stillwater. This is our cat, Moss!" says Molly.

Moss hops into the basket of Stillwater's bike and the three head off for a spin, Molly just has to tell Stillwater about her ballet lessons, bubbling on about how she's going to be a top star, featured in glamorous, sparkly posters and adored by the public. Stillwater listens in bemused silence and then launches into the Zen parable of Banzo's Sword, in which the gungho young Jiro wants instant results in his swordsmanship. When Master Banzo tells him it will take thirty years of study, he is not willing to wait.

"I want to master the art now!" Jiro insisted.

"I see," said Banzo, "in that case you will have to work for seventy years!"

"I understand," said Molly. "I am not being patient. I will practice as long as it takes."

A few days later, it's Leo's turn to learn a lesson, as he and Stillwater agree to play with his robots.

"I'll be all the good guys, "said Leo, choosing all the best figures, "and you will be the bad guy," he says, taking charge.

"I love being the bad guy," Stillwater announced."

And to illustrate his role, he grabs the biggest cookies with the biggest chocolate chunks off the snack plate. Leo gets the message.

Then Stillwater and the kids happily head for a walk on the beach, but they are saddened to see the beach littered with starfish, left high and dry in the outgoing tide. They rush down and start tossing the beached starfish back into the water, but the task seems endless.

"There are too many," says Leo. "This won't make any difference."

Molly picked up one starfish and threw it back into the water.

"It will for him!" she said.

Caldecott-winning author-illustrator John J. Muth's Zen Socks (Scholastic Press, 2015) brings back his celebrated character in another story of Zen Panda Stillwater and his new young friends. Gentle wisdom bolstered by standout illustrations make this new one a winner as well for Muth, whose stunning draftsmanship and judicial use of colors give his illustrations impact and balance, just like his themes. For a Halloween-themed Stillwater story, pair this one with Muth's Zen Ghosts, (see review here).