Storytime with Lian

This book is titled Snow and is written and illustrated by 三浦太郎 also known as Taro Miura.

I picked up this book at the Nijino Ehonya Bookstore & Publisher stand at the Taipei International Book Fair:

First off, let’s look at the cover. And yes, I’m totally ripping off the Looking at Picture Book substack, but I really want to share this book cause it’s just SOOO beautiful so let’s run with it okay??

I LOVE this cover. This cover is what made this book stand out against the others. The high contrast between the white snow and the trees hooks you in immediately. The minimalist characters making their way across the snow are just so intriguing, I HAD to open it up to see inside.

Luckily this book came with a handy Chinese translation tucked inside the cover so today I will be translating the translation for you!

Snow by Taro Miura

SAKU SAKU SAKU

The story begins.

We only see the tracks on the snow and hear the sounds being made, but we don’t know what is making them.

SAKU SAKU SAKU

Now we see that it’s a little family of deer in the snow.

But there are even more tracks that lead off the page, inviting us to continue to turn the page.

SAc SAc

Oh my god it’s tiny bunnies.

SA SA SA SA SA

And a lonesome fox.

SUIIIIIIII—

Wow, excellent. Now we are introduced to the humans we were promised on the cover page. The space which Miura has introduced us to is a vast one and as we keep moving around it, we find more and more things. It’s a space inhabited with animals and humans alike.

I love this spread so much. We get a glimpse of the ski marks on the previous page which we follow through to find the skier on this page. There’s someone doing a flip and even someone snowboarding. My favorite are the people simply making fun marks in the snow with their skis. It’s a nice little touch which shows that Miura is someone who notices the small things in life and because of it, it immediately makes this relatable and grounded.

KOROKORO KOROKORO (moving around)

Slowly, Miura brings in more and more people. Everyone is having fun in the snow. Some of the moments added in are so cheeky, such as a little dog looking on, a broomstick for a snowman’s arms and the snow elephant slide. On the bottom right, we see a glimpse into what the next page may be and it’s a good one…