Thursday, February 19, 2015

A midwinter's tale

“Once upon a northern night
while you lay sleeping,
wrapped in a downy blanket,
I painted you a picture.

It began with one tiny flake,
perfect
and beautiful
and special,
just like you.
Then there were two,
and then three.

Soon 
the night sky filled with sparkling specks of white, crowding,
and floating,
tumbling down to the welcoming
ground
until the earth was
wrapped in a downy blanket, just like you.”

And so begins Once upon a northern night (Groundwood Booksby Jean E. Penziwol with illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault, a beautiful book which was listed as a Finalist for the 2014 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award.