Bomi Park created a poetic story about the first snow fall and how magical it is to one child. First Snow invokes The Snowman’s “sneaking out” feeling and that nothing bad could happen.
It has that realistic-magical element to it.
I went back and look at the illustrations more closely as there are some hidden items/critters/etc. that made me wonder if they are there or it is the child’s imagination (i.e.: did her puppy turned in the polar bear or there is a polar bear. Or did she imagine the polar bear). SPOILER of course, the odds the child rolls a snowball far enough to find a magical world with other children is very small, therefore, most of this is the imagination, but that it is not necessarily off putting. After all, it is all possible that the children our little narrator finds are all in a real magical realm. More likely, it is the children playing in the snow and imagination takes them elsewhere. That is the magic of the story by making it up to your interpretation.
The art is muted, but perfect for what is needed. The color is carefully placed and there to only enhance what is going on in the simple, limited text. It is this soft feeling of magic and child imagination. It has the feel of not being Western as original published in Korea in 2012. Yet, this does not take away from the story in anyway. If you enjoy the Chirri & Chirra series, this is another you should investigate. This would be a fun large lap-sized board book but works well in this smaller hardcover size.