It's December 24th, and a kindly old man says good night toall the animals in the barn. As he settles into bed, he wonderswhen it's ever going to snow. He dreams that a snowstorm comes andcovers him in a snowy blanket while he sleeps. Then he dreams thata snow blanket covers each of the animals in the barn, one by one.As we read, we lift snowy-white acetate pages for each animal todiscover which one is behind them.When the man awakens, he findsthat the animals have not been buried by the snow, but that it hassnowed quite a bit. Finally he remembers something... He goes backoutside, puts some gifts underneath the tree for his animals, andpresses a button that activates a snowy melody. In true Eric Carlefashion, the button is a real button that the reader presses inorder to activate the melody.

　It's almost Christmas and it hasn't snowed yet. As the farmernaps on his small farm, he dreams of being covered in a gentleblanket of new snow. Then, one by one, he dreams of each of hisfive animals (aptly named One, Two, Three, Four, and Five) beingcovered as well. When he awakens, he discovers that real snow--notdream snow--has fallen. And "Oh my! Oh my! I almost forgot," thefarmer shouts, and, bundling up, hurries out to his tree (namedTree) with a box and a sack, looking remarkably familiar in hiswhite beard and red suit. After decorating Tree, the farmer shouts"Merry Christmas to all!" and pushes a button for a surpriseYuletide jingle.
　　Young fans of Eric Carle's The Very Quiet Cricket, The VeryClumsy Click Beetle, and other multisensory books, will delight inpushing the same microchip button the farmer pushes to hear thetinkling, oddly eerie holiday tune. In an even more unusualdeparture from standard picture books, Carle inserts a clearplastic sheet, covered with snowflakes and a white blanket, beforeeach illustration of the dreaming farmer and his animals. Turn theplastic page to discover what kind of critter lies beneath thesnow. Carle's magnificent collages, as always, are the heart andsoul of his books. (Ages 3 to 8) --Emilie Coulter