In a year's worth of seasons, readers get to know the mole family and their 13 children. Mama Mole is a musician and Papa Mole writes the daily newspaper. The Mole children discover the world around them from hatching bird eggs, to swimming beavers, adopting a hare and who makes the snow? Gentle illustrations accompany the text.

This is a a whimsical cozy story. We follow a family of moles through the seasons. This is an early chapter book that includes some illustrations. It feels just like any family and there sweet stories are perfect for the gentle reader. This would make a good bedtime book for my boys either as a family read aloud or to read to himself for my independent reader.

This one is adorable, beautiful, comforting, delightful, heartwarming, and so very whimsical! It tells the story of a family of moles, whose newest members are Purr and Crawly, twin moles born on the first day of spring.

As we follow the twins and the rest of the family, we learn and discover a lot. From how things grow to how to be bold. The stories delight and inform while the artwork inspires coziness and nostalgic warmth, making it a great winter read. Well, an all-round the year anytime read for anyone actually!

A treasure indeed. I look forward to more from this Ukranian duo – Taras Prokhasko and Marjana Prokhasko.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the digital copy of this book

Just what we needed on this snowy winter morning. A little long for the toddler but a good story. I wish it had more pictures.

"Don't be afraid --- the world's a little tough, but it's interesting this way..."

Spend an exciting year with two young moles as they experience all the wonders that each passing season brings to their lives.

There's a real The Wind in the Willows feel to this translated tale, and I suspect it would also appeal to Moomin fans. It's a little text-heavy for a picture book, but it would make a wonderful curl-up-and-read-together story. This is an utterly charming tale with sweet illustrations.

The ending made me cry a bit as I used to fall asleep to the tap-tap-tap of my dad's typewriter.

A lovely cute Christmas book about two moles Purr and Craw who are curious about everything. They live going off on adventures to discover the world around them with varying results. They meet a whole host of lovely creatures along the way and my grandchildren were delighted with the book.

An adventurous tale told from the eyes of a family of moles, with wonderful illustrations (some large double page spreads) and many lessons learned along the way. It was a little long winded and wordy for my little one who is almost 3 years old, so imagine it would appeal to older children. There is more than enough mayhem and exploration to keep them interested!

At first I wasn't sure about this one -- I expected it to have more pictures instead of being a chapter book and I wasn't sure if my son would want to read it with the limited pictures and lots of text. Also moles aren't what I think of as thrilling content for a four year old, particularly my vehicle loving one, but he asked to read this every single night until we were done. I found myself really excited to read the book. The descriptions of the moles, their homes, their family, the food they ate, etc. were like a big, warm hug. It was the absolute perfect fall read. I would highly recommend for ages 4-10; I think this does such a good job of spanning so many ages. Even if you think you or your kiddo might not gravitate towards this one, like I did, I would highly recommend giving it a shot. You might love it as much as we did! This would be great as a gift, classroom read aloud, classroom library, or school library addition.

This was a sweet, wholesome story about a large family of moles and their animal friends living in the forest. We’re specifically following two mole pups who are born in the spring and mature and learn through the year. From the title and book cover, I thought this was a book about winter and snow, but we experience all four seasons in this story. The winter scene doesn’t happen until the very end of the book. Also, I thought this was a picture book but it’s a short story, split into seven short chapters. So this would be a great book for kids learning to read that may still be too young for longer middle grade chapter books. This was an easy, quick read, but still has a good amount of illustrations to admire. The artwork is not my favorite style, but they are cute illustrations and help to tell the story.

This is highlighted as a “Social Emotional Learning adventure,” where the mole pups are learning more about the world around them and getting out of their comfort zones. There are plenty of good life lessons to obtain from this story. They live and behave like humans, which is cute. However, I found it quite boring. It felt more like a slice-of-life story, which was cozy and delightful. But I wanted more action, just something interesting and exciting to happen to engage me more. Reading this as an adult, it was just okay for me, but I’m sure kids would enjoy it more. If you know a child who enjoys animal stories, then I definitely recommend this one!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. These are my own thoughts and opinions.

"Who Will Make the Snow" is a heartwarming and whimsical children's book. It tells the story of a family of moles, whose two new pups were born on the first day of spring. As they grow up, surrounded by their lovingly family and friends, the two little moles discover each season, how the forest change throughout the year, and enjoy each moment.

The illustrations are really lovely and made the story feel even cosier. I'm sure kids reading this book will enjoy spotting all the little details in the moles' house, the forest, the Under the Oak Café…!

I'm not completely sure who the target audience might be though—either a child who's already used to reading alone (the book has several chapters, which makes it easier to pause and continue later), or one whose parents can read the story to.

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I definitely recommend that cute story for the autumn and winter seasons!

Started this with my 5 year she loved it on the beginning then lost entrance. She just like the adventure when they were smaller.

A pair of mole twins are born on the first day of spring, and grow and change alongside the seasons. Crawly and Purl's births are celebrated by their parents and eleven siblings, and they grow up in a home filled with love and fun. The most striking thing about this book is the gorgeous illustrations. They added a liveliness and warmth to the words, along with an almost eerie feeling that I often associate with traditional fairytales.

This story has a classic feeling, similar to Peter Rabbit, with modern emotional lessons about bravery and grief told through an engaging cast of woodland animal characters. However, I'm not sure how this story would fit into the age categorizations in my workplace (picture book vs. reader vs. early chapter book), and I think the heavier text detracts focus from the illustrations.

A beautiful and sweet story about two moles who learn to move out of their comfort zone and experience the world around them. Purr and Craw are two moles who begin to learn to explore new things and find new experiences. This was a really sweet read and the artwork was cute.

*Thanks Netgalley and Archipelago, Elsewhere Editions for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This is a beautiful story about family and has gorgeous illustrations. I didn’t realize that this was going to be a chapter book. I feel this book is better suited for a read aloud but since there are chapters it’s very long, so it should be read over a few days in order to keep children’s attention.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC ebook!

This children's story features some stunning and unique illustrations and, while the premise had my interest, I found that the format was not my favorite. There are a few points in the book that feature two pages of full text, long paragraphs, and no images, illustrations, etc. My children (ages 7, 5, and 4) would have a hard time keeping their attention on the book during a read aloud.

This is a delightful and whimsical children's story of a family of moles who welcome twins in the Spring and explore the changing seasons as they go on adventures within their forest community. Written in 2013 in the Ukraine, this edition represents the first English translated edition. The illustrations were just beautiful and hearken back to the world of Beatrix Potter and Winnie the Pooh. There was a surprising amount of text and actual chapters with such complex words as cauldron. I'm not sure of the targeted age group, but I can certainly imagine a precocious youngster learning a whole host of new words from this charming animal adventure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Archipelago for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

' Who Will Make the Snow?' by Taras Prokhasko is Marjana Prokhasko is not quite what I was expecting from the cover (yes, the one you should not judge a book by...). The story is as expected, a sweet mole famiy. However, from the cover I was expecting more of a picture book and this is sort of a very early chapter book. I think it is meant to be a read aloud but it certainly has more text than a book like this usually does (size, shape, cover...). I think it is geared more toward older young kids, but not upper elementary.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book is so sweet, it embodies love and friendship, having sweet messages for grieving children too (where the snow comes from). I also really liked the images as the sketches gave it a more rustic and homey feel but they were still very detailed.

This book is perfect for cozy season. The art is so cool, and lends a feeling to the story that feels very immersive and earthy. I loved the story of this little (or should I say large?) mole family. I went into this expecting a children's book, but this read a bit older and wordier — so I'm not sure what the intended age range is.

This is a story about a family of moles, including the newest twin moles who were born on the first day of Spring. Naturally, they are curious about the world and question their father and mother often, wanting to know what the others are talking about, and everything there is to know.

As time passes, they begin to be able to safely explore their surroundings, seeing what is in the forest, what other animals make the forest their home, learning more about their surroundings every day, and happy to return home when they have satisfied that day’s curiosity. They share their adventures with the others when they return, and they learn that they need to be careful, since there are other creatures and other things out there who could be dangerous. As they become more familiar with their surroundings they realize just how many new friends they have made, and how much they’ve learned in their journeys and how wonderful the world can be.

While this story is charming on its own, the lovely illustrations really add a dimension to this story as well, which will draw in both the youngest readers as well as parents and grandparents.


Pub Date: 14 Nov 2023


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Archipelago, Elsewhere Editions