A bear and a wolf share a wintertime idyll.In the first double-page spread, readers look over the top of Bear's head to a doglike figure in the middle distance, bare trees receding into the distance on either side to create depth. The following spread repeats the image, only from behind Wolf's pointy-eared head. Bear explains that she is "out for a walk to feel the cold on my face, and to enjoy the quiet of the woods when it snows." Likewise, Wolf is "out for a walk to feel the cold under my paws, and to listen to the crunching of the snow as I walk." The two walk together, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the forest in winter, all evoked in quietly powerful sensory language. Readers who have met Salmieri through his illustrations for Adam Rubin's hectic Dragons Love Tacos books may be surprised at the contemplative nature of this one. The use of gouache, watercolor, and crushed colored pencil gives his paintings a lovely soft texture, while the steady verticality of the trees and the consistent placement of text in a strip at the bottom of each spread lend them a feeling of calm serenity. The addition of pinks and purples to the grays and blues of a winter night chases away the bone-chilling cold.With its air of nighttime mystery, this is one that readers will want to revisit again and again. (Picture book. 4-8)

A bear and a wolf meet in a snowy forest and go on a walk together, taking in the sights, sounds, and tastes of the wintry night. Then the winter passes; spring comes, and the two meet again for a springtime walk. The contemplative tone of the quiet text is matched by evocative paintings that are beautiful and serene.

A bear and a wolf share a wintertime idyll.In the first double-page spread, readers look over the top of Bear's head to a doglike figure in the middle distance, bare trees receding into the distance on either side to create depth. The following spread repeats the image, only from behind Wolf's pointy-eared head. Bear explains that she is "out for a walk to feel the cold on my face, and to enjoy the quiet of the woods when it snows." Likewise, Wolf is "out for a walk to feel the cold under my paws, and to listen to the crunching of the snow as I walk." The two walk together, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the forest in winter, all evoked in quietly powerful sensory language. Readers who have met Salmieri through his illustrations for Adam Rubin's hectic Dragons Love Tacos books may be surprised at the contemplative nature of this one. The use of gouache, watercolor, and crushed colored pencil gives his paintings a lovely soft texture, while the steady verticality of the trees and the consistent placement of text in a strip at the bottom of each spread lend them a feeling of calm serenity. The addition of pinks and purples to the grays and blues of a winter night chases away the bone-chilling cold.With its air of nighttime mystery, this is one that readers will want to revisit again and again. (Picture book. 4-8)

In a quiet story about noticing and the simple joy of company, a bear and wolf-both shades of gray with sloping snouts and almond-shaped eyes-encounter one another in the forest. After a startled moment, Bear and Wolf communicate calmly and affably: "Do you want to walk with me?" Bear asks Wolf. Salmieri works in a free and unmeasured style, rendering the forest in non-uniform shapes and loose, color-pencil lines, and dusting the winter white with dusky violet and rosy pink. On their journey, the animals smell the forest and hear the snow falling on their fur; they watch a snowy owl that also watches them. Bear and Wolf come to a "huge, flat circle of white," which Salmieri shows at a distance, capturing the expanse of the woods and the relative smallness of Wolf and Bear. They brush aside the snow to observe jewel-toned, sleeping fish. In a satisfying conclusion, Salmieri trades the chilly colors of winter for springtime pastels as Wolf and Bear meet again: "Bear and Wolf walked through the gentle breeze, using their eyes, and ears, and noses to take in the awakening woods." Ages 4-8. (Feb.)