On Christmas Eve, a boy wonders how snowmen celebrate the occasion. In this companion to Snowmen at Night, he imagines that the snowmen, women, children, and a snow dog gather in the town square for tree-trimming, treats, games, dancing, singing, and a visit from the snowman Kris Kringle. The subdued rhyming text is not as remarkable as the luminous, festive illustrations.

One of the more charming new books of the holiday season, this reintroduces the jolly snowmen (and women) from Snowmen at Night (2002). This time they are enjoying the Christmas season, venturing out during the moonlit night (while children sleep) to gather in the town square. It's not what happens here (primarily a visit from a snow Santa and some carols round a tree) but the rich art that makes this special. As in the previous book, Buehner does magical things with light in his paintings. From the cover, where snow people frolic in the moody blues of evening to the scene of a city street where holiday lights cast a mellow glow to the quiet picture of a lightening morning sky, children will be enchanted by the hues of the acrylic artwork. The text is sprightly with a to-the-point rhyme scheme that only occasionally verges on singsong. Little ones, especially, will enjoy the celebration as the snow people relish their special night.

The roly-poly, free-spirited stars (and excellent sledders) of <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Snowmen at Night are back, this time to celebrate Christmas, snowman style. Tree trimming, carols and ice cream are all part of the festive agenda—as is a visit from "the snowman Kris Kringle." Jazzy rhyming verse keeps a buoyant party beat as Mark Buehner's holiday lights and street lamps twinkle and glow like the real thing. Readers will smile watching these nimble and nattily accessorized snowmen dancing, decorating cookies and playing the fiddle before they settle back into place for Christmas, human style. Seek-and-find images on each page add to the excitement; a boxed set of both books doubles the fun. ($32.99 ISBN 0-8037-3108-6). Ages 4-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

The husband-and-wife team who created the popular Snowmen at Night revisits their snowy creations to see how snowmen celebrate Christmas. The rhyming text describes how the snowmen (and snow women, snow children and one snow dog) gather late at night in the empty town for a holiday gathering. They decorate a tree, play games and enjoy icy-cold snacks (snow cones, of course) before the snowman Santa arrives with presents made of snow for all. Carols around the tree conclude the festivities and the snow folk take up their proper posts again just before the sun rises. The illustrations are infused with mysterious blue or lavender light that highlights the rounded figures of the snow people, with lots of additional sparkling effects from the town's Christmas lights and streetlights. The snowmen are quite lively for characters with no legs and twig-thin arms, and they really do seem to have lives of their own that exist on some other icy plane. As in the previous story, there are tiny hidden pictures to search for in each illustration. (Picture book. 4-8)