Twelve Kinds of Ice / Ellen Bryan Obed / 61 pages

Obed manages to impart the joy, the anticipation, the freedom, the love, and the exhilaration of a season that includes ice.  From the moment that a thin skim of ice is found on a pail of water to the soggy ice that hearkens the beginning of warmer weather, a family experiences skating in fields, streams, lakes and even their "garden ice."  I had no idea that ice went through so many transformations and could inspire such a compact, perfect little book.  The story written in crisp sparkling language and the pen & ink illustrations merge perfectly. Makes you want to move to Canada.